Birthdays and First Dates
by cncgrad02
Summary: Vanessa's birthday is a day of chaos for the whole family. Pure Zanessa!
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

It was early. There was a ringing. Vanessa groaned, realizing that the ringing was her cell phone. _Did I not turn it off last night? I usually do…_ she thought to herself, confused, and then smiled to herself when she realized why she forgot to turn off her cell upon returning home last night. She was distracted. Very distracted. _They'll leave a message; I'll call them back_ she told herself, rolling over to find her distraction from the previous night.

She had been missing her boyfriend lately. With her being in Vancouver and him traveling all over America promoting his latest movie, they hadn't seen much of each other. They did have this past week when he came and surprised her, but since she didn't know he would be there, she hadn't been able to get out of working and he, being the gentleman he always was, gently told her to not worry about it, that he could entertain himself, and that he'd have her all to himself soon enough (he did join her for dinner with their friends and dessert by themselves behind closed doors afterwards one night while he was there, but made sure she followed through on her plans the rest of the week). After hearing this, she was even more adamant about making it back home with him for her birthday.

Her 21st birthday party was last night. Today was the day of her actual birthday, but the party that she'd wanted for several years (and finally got thanks to Zac and their families) was planned for last night. Their families started a family birthday dinner tradition since they started dating and the two families became close, hence the reason for the party being the previous night. She'd had a great time last night, and between all the dancing and the few Cosmos she'd consumed after midnight and the amazing food, she felt the need to properly thank her long time boyfriend. Vanessa had almost literally attacked Zac when they walked through the door, and he was a willing participant. As they made their way upstairs to the bedroom, her purse had been dropped and her cell phone fell out in the process landing on her bedroom floor.

As she was curling back into Zac's arms, laying her head on his bare chest, she felt him tighten his arms around her out of habit pulling her closer to him. She heard him sigh and felt him kiss the top of her head as he tangled their legs together.

"Hhhmmm," she sighed contently. "Can I wake up like this every morning on my birthday?" she mumbled.

"Only if you promise to tell everyone we know that if they call your phone this early in the morning they will be shot," he replied sleepily. "And when did 'Scream' become your ring tone? Not cool, Hudgens."

"I'm sorry, Babe, but in my defense, first of all, it's my birthday, so you're not allowed to be mad at me today. Stella changed my ring tone when she and Mom came to Vancouver and I didn't know it until after they'd left. You know how she and Dylan are always playing tricks like that on us. She told me that she picked that song so that I'll think of you whenever my phone rings. Secondly, it's really not that early. It's almost 9:00. And lastly, if I need to remind you why I forgot to turn off my phone, then something was done wrong!" she told him as she lazily traced patterns on his bare chest before leaning down to place several kisses on his tight pectorals.

"Oh, no ma'am. You did everything right." He let out a grunt when he felt something fall on his stomach, causing Vanessa to fall into a fit of hysterics. He picked his head up slightly off the pillow and looked into the eyes of his girlfriend's dog. "Shadow, what the hell?!" he exclaimed as Vanessa picked up her dog, setting her gently back on the floor.

"Shadow, be good!" she reprimanded, as her precious toy poodle looked at her with her ears falling over her eyes, before running out of the bedroom leaving the two lovers alone.

"How do you feel, by the way? Hung over?" Zac continued.

"Me? Hung over? Please. There are benefits from being one of the youngest among our friends. I've had the advantage of watching all of you make fools of yourselves on your 21st birthdays to know what _not_ to do on mine and I've been out with you enough times to know 1, not to mix my liquor and beer and 2, to drink lots of water throughout the night and take Advil before going to bed. I am, if nothing else, a very fast learner."

"But I seem to recall neither one of us taking anything before bed last night."

"Speak for yourself, Efron. I carried a bottle in my purse and took two before we left the party. What about you? How are you feeling?"

"A slight headache, but I've had worse. Nothing that some coffee won't fix. Speaking of, I know you want to check and see who was calling, so why don't you do that while I start your birthday breakfast."

He placed a loving kiss on her lips and crawled out of bed, grabbing his boxers from the night before and slipping them on under his sweatpants, bending over when he reached Vanessa's phone on his way out the bedroom door and bringing it back to her in bed. He leaned down to give her one more kiss, this one a little longer than a moment earlier, while she placed a hand on his cheek and held him there, and he whispered against her lips "Happy birthday, Baby" only to give her one more kiss before standing back up and making his way out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"Thank you!" she called back, causing him to grin to himself. She tapped the screen of her phone, causing the picture of the two of them at the hockey game they attended in Vancouver for Zac's birthday almost two months ago to appear. She saw the envelope in the corner, signaling a voicemail. She promptly called her mail box, entered her code, and was greeted by the sound of her father's voice on the other end.

"_Baby V, why aren't you up yet? It's almost 9 in the morning. I need you and Zac to come to the house. We've got an emergency and I need your help. I think you two will be the only one's who can solve it. Call me ASAP. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot! Happy Birthday! I'll talk to you soon!"_

Vanessa chuckled, shook her head, and rolled her eyes as she deleted the message from her loving father.

"Poor Dad. You wouldn't even remember your own birthday if Mom weren't around. I bet she was standing right next to you when you called."

As she began to make her way downstairs, the smell of bacon and her boyfriend's French toast made its way to her nostrils. There are many things he tried to learn from his mom when it came to cooking. Not a lot of them stuck with him, but her French toast was one of the few that did and Vanessa was absolutely in love with Starla's French toast. Zac's may not be exactly the same as his mom's, but he sure did try hard!

"French toast, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, bacon, orange juice? What did I do to get all of this?" she questioned, snatching a piece of bacon from the stack as she approached him, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing a kiss on his bare shoulder, while he kept watching the French toast that was in the skillet.

Zac looked at her with a smirk while he brought his left arm around her shoulders. "You were born. Isn't that enough? And by the way, that piece of bacon cuts into your serving size."

She gasped. "But it's my birthday! I should be able to eat all the bacon I want to today."

Zac just smiled at her. "I'm kidding. You can eat all the bacon if you want it. Today's your day and you can do anything you want."

"Anything?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Within reason!" he warned, as her phone began to ring again. "And change your damn ring tone!"

"But I like this one! The singer of this song is sssooo hot and I can't help but think of him whenever I hear my phone ring," she told him. He just glared at her, unamused. "Fine," she scoffed as she disentangled herself from him and made her way over the counter and picked up her phone, climbing onto one of the bar stools.

"Hello?" she answered.

"_I need your help." _

"Stella, what's going on?"

"_Why would you think there's something going on?" _the youngest Hudgens asked.

"Well, Dad leaves me a voice mail saying there's an emergency and he needs my help and now you need my help. What's going on?"

"_It's not an emergency. Dad's just being dramatic as always. But I do need your help keeping him off my back."_

"Why? What did you do?"

"_I didn't do anything."_

"Then why do you need me to help you get Dad off your back?" she asked her younger sister while shooting a look at Zac, who was watching her with curiosity on his face. She shrugged her shoulders in answer to his unspoken question.

"_Because he's driving me CRAZY, Nessa! I can't take it!"_ Stella told her older sister.

Despite the age difference, Stella has always looked up to Vanessa. When Vanessa found herself in the midst of a scandal several years ago, Stella told Vanessa that she admired the way she handled everything and thought that it only made her sister stronger in her eyes. After Stella admitted this to Vanessa, the two became even closer than ever before and Vanessa made a promise to herself that she would not only always be there for her sister, but would always try to talk to and treat her as an adult and make sure she's as informed as Vanessa feels she needs to be about everything the older Hudgens sibling encounters. Vanessa told Zac once that she feels like she owes it to Stella. She's afraid that Stella feels like she's living in her shadow and is always being compared to Vanessa, even if she won't admit to it. Because of this, Vanessa makes it a point to set aside an evening every week (when she's home and not on location somewhere) for what the two now refer to as Sister Date Night. She even felt that it was important for Stella to have her own room at her house, in case she ever needed to "escape" from their parents for a night. At first, Greg and Gina didn't like that too much, but when Vanessa promised that she would make sure Stella got her homework done and made it to school the next day, they finally relented. They too realize how strong the bond is between their two daughters and feel it's important to play their role in making sure that bond stays in tact, whatever that would entail.

"Stellz, I really need more information in order for me to help you."

"_Oh, my gosh! I forgot! I'm so sorry! I'm such a crappy sister!" _Stella exclaimed, causing Vanessa to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Okay, now I feel like I'm talking to Ashley the way you're jumping topics. Chill out, Spaz!"

"_I'm sorry. Happy birthday, Nessa!"_

"Thank you. Now continue on our previous topic, please. You've got me curious. What happened to have Dad all freaked like he is?" she asked, getting up from the bar stool and walking into the other room. "Five minutes. I'll be right back," she whispered to Zac before popping a grape in her mouth on her way out into the living room.

Vanessa talked to her sister for a few more minutes. As she made her way back into the kitchen, she shook her head in disbelief. "You'll never believe this one," she tells Zac while accepting a cup of coffee from him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said placing a kiss on her lips. "What's going on?"

"Okay, so the phone call this morning? That was from Dad. He was talking about how "_Why are you not awake, it's getting late. There's an emergency. I need you and Zac to come to the house. I think you two are the only ones who can help"_. So on an so forth. So when Stella called, she goes into how she needs my help because Dad's apparently driving her crazy. Come to find out, last night at the party, she met this guy-"

"What?!" Zac interrupted.

"Will you stop?" she asked him exasperated at the thought of entering into the same conversation they always have when her sister and boys are brought up. "Listen, I love that you're all protective older brother to Stella, but Zac, you need to let this go. She's growing up and she has boys in her classes at school. She's a very beautiful young lady and boys pay attention."

"But Van, she's too young for a relationship!"

"She's only one year younger than I was when I met you!" she pointed out.

"Exactly!" he shouted, and then stopped when he realized what just happened. "Wait, you set me up for that one. That's not fair!" he pouted.

"Zac," she began taking his hands in hers, "I love you. Okay? And like I said, I love the fact that you're really protective of my sister and you look out for her. But I think that if Mom and Dad are okay with her talking to boys and maybe even going out with someone, then you need to be okay with it, too. Alright?"

"Fine. I'm sorry I got spastic. Now, tell me about the emergency. Stellz met a guy…"

"Yeah, so she met this guy at my party last night. The two talked, danced, whatever, and by the end of the night, they had exchanged phone numbers, email, face book info, all that fun "I'm a teenager and I want to flirt some more" stuff. Apparently, she was up until almost 2 this morning-" she stopped when she saw Zac trying to hold in his laughter. "What?" she asked.

"We were up until almost 2 this morning, too."

"But for different reasons! She better not be- whatever. Get your mind out of the gutter and let me finish my story!"

"Okay, continue," he said.

"So anyway, they were up until almost 2 this morning talking-"

"Phone or internet?" he interrupted again.

Vanessa let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know! Can you please finish my French toast while I finish the story and save your questions until I'm done?" She waited until she saw him turn back to the stove before continuing. "Anyway, the were up really late or early or whatever talking somehow. He had at some point in the conversation asked if he can take her out and she said yes. When Mom woke her up this morning, she waited until Dad was in a good mood before bringing up the whole "I have a date" topic. Apparently, Dad freaked and called me saying that there's and 'emergency'," she said while using her fingers as quotes.

"So there's no emergency? Greg's just freaking out? And he thinks you and I can help? How?" Zac asked as he set a plate in front of her and carrying his own plate to the bar and taking a seat in the barstool next to her.

"I don't know. I'll call in a few minutes after I eat my birthday breakfast. Hey!" she exclaimed suddenly, startling Zac. "Did you hear? It's my birthday!" He rolled his eyes smiling at Vanessa's excitement.

"You're so funny," he told her. "Eat before it gets cold."

Zac took pleasure in watching her enjoy the breakfast that he lovingly made for her. After a few minutes of hearing his girlfriend's sounds and watching her looks of pleasure, he had to say something. "You know, sitting here watching you make those faces and hearing you make those sounds is a real turn on. What do you say we…" he trailed off, nodding his head in the direction of the stairs.

Vanessa smiled at him and shook her head. "Zac, we have to be at my parents for the family stuff in 2 hours."

"That's plenty of time for me." Again, she just looked at him and laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Eat!" she playfully scolded him as she took the last bite. She then stood up, crossed around the bar to the sink, and rinsed her dishes, putting them in the dishwasher. "I'm going to get in the shower. Thank you for my birthday breakfast. It was delicious," she said as she walked back around the bar and into the waiting, open arms of Zac. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Happy birthday," he said as he kissed her back. The two stood there for several minutes enjoying the feel of their lips on each other. "Go," he told her when he pulled away. "Shower. I'll be up in a few after I clean up down here," he told her, swatting her on the bottom as she turned away.

"Hey! It's my birthday! Don't abuse me! You'll pay for that!" she yelled as she ran out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"I'll hold you to that!" he yelled back.

* * *

_AN: I forgot in the first chapter to make my little disclaimer. By the way, it's not mine. None of it. I just wanted yall to know that._

_This is absolutely amazing. My first story that I've ever shared with anyone (not the first I've written; just the first I've shared) has been accepted by lots! There have been quit a few of you who have added me and my story to alert lists! I'm so excited! Thank you all so much for all of the support! My story only gets better… I hope you enjoy the rest as much as you have the beginning._

**_Chapter 2_**

About an hour and forty-five minutes later, Zac was pulling Vanessa's Lexus into her parents' driveway. As they arrived, they noticed his parents Equinox already there.

"Oh, good, everybody's here and they're waiting for me on my birthday!" Vanessa exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. Zac just shook his head in amusement.

"You're such a kid," he told her, laughing.

"I'm allowed to be today."

As they got out of the car and started up the sidewalk, the door flew open and Stella came running out. "Thank God you're here!" she yelled throwing her arms around her sister.

"Hello to you too. Can I breathe?" Vanessa asked.

"Sorry," Stella apologized, loosening her grip from around Vanessa's neck. "Dad will not let up on this!" she told them, grabbing Vanessa's hand and pulling her toward the front door.

"Yeah, I'm great, Stellz. Thanks for asking!" Zac called after the two.

"Sorry, Zac," Stella apologized for the second time in the less than five minutes that they'd been there. "I missed you. How are you?" she asked, dropping her sister's hand and running into the arms of the man who has become a big brother to her within the past four years.

"I'm good. I'm glad to be home for a while. I missed everyone, but especially my favorite Stellz Bellz."

"What do you mean your _favorite_ Stellz Bellz? I better be your only!"

"No one could hold a candle to you!" he reassured her.

"Hey, you two, as much as I love you both and enjoy watching you two together, um, can we go in now?" Vanessa interrupted, as Zac came to stand beside her once more and put his arms around her waist.

"No! I need to fill you in on the latest with-"

"Stella Teodora! Get in the house!" All three jumped when the voice of Greg Hudgens rang out through the front yard.

"She must have done something. Stella never gets the middle name," Zac whispered in Vanessa's ear.

"Hey, Dad!" Vanessa called as she ran up to her father, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, Baby V. Hey, Zac," Greg called out to the other man in his older daughter's life and held his hand out to him.

"Hey, Greg. How are you?" he asked as he took Greg's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"I'm doing well, I suppose. How was-"

"Dad, I can't believe you! You're only being nice right now because you want them on your side!" Stella interrupted her father.

"On his side for what?" Vanessa asked. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on? Dad, you said this morning that there was an emergency?"

"If you had called me back-" he began.

"Dad, that's really not the point here. Please be nice to me. It's my birthday," she told her father, turning on the charm that Greg swears both girls got from their mother. The charm never fails to melt his heart regardless which of his women gave it to him.

"Fine," he sighed. "Let's go inside and I'll fill you in." The group began to file in the house with Zac and Greg bringing up the rear. "Hey, Zac. Can I borrow you for a minute?"

"Yeah, Greg, what's up?" he questioned the man who can intimidate him like no one else in the world.

"Listen, I know you already think of Stella as your sister and I'm really grateful for the way you look out for my girls. I, uh, I need your help when we get in there."

"Yes, sir. What can I do?"

"Stella is trying to talk me into letting her go on her first date. I don't think she's ready. I need her big brother to speak up."

"Um, Greg, I, uh, I- I really truly want to help, but I, um, I- I just don't feel very, um, comfortable speaking up when I, uh, don't know the full story," Zac stuttered, beginning to sweat under the gaze of Greg Hudgens. _Why, after four years, does this man still get to me like this? Will it be like this my whole life?_ he wondered to himself. As Greg continued to stare at Zac, Zac continued to fight off the sweat he felt appearing on his forehead, despite the December temperatures. _This isn't fair. I should already be immune to his stare. It's not supposed to still affect me like this!_ "Uh, Greg, should we go inside? I'm sure everyone's waiting on us."

Greg gave one last gaze at his Baby V's boyfriend. _I've got to hand it to him. The boy sure does at least try to keep his cool when he's around me. I remember that feeling whenever I was around Gina's dad._

He opened the door and signaled for Zac to enter while he followed. When the two men walked into the foyer, Zac immediately spotted his father and made a beeline for him while Greg made his way upstairs. The elder Efron gave his son a manly hug, slapping him on the back.

"Son, how are you?" David asked.

"I'm okay, Dad. Glad to be home and get at least some time off. The movie's done well so far. I just wish it were open in more areas. I've heard of some fans not being too happy that they're not able to see it."

"Your mom and I were able to catch it. I think this one's my favorite."

"Thanks, Dad. That means a lot."

"Greg getting to you again?"

"How can you tell? Is it that obvious? You don't think he can tell, do you? I don't want him to think I'm weak." Zac asked his father, panicked.

"Son, it's called 'the curse of the girlfriend's dad'. It's been going since the beginning of time for all men, regardless of how strong he thinks he is. The girlfriend's dad will always bring the boyfriend/ fiancé/ husband into a pool of sweat and running for cover, no matter how well the two get along. And yes, he knows. That's why he does what he does."

"It's true, Zachary. Just ask your grandpa. Your father still gets in a panic when he even thinks Grandpa will be anywhere near by." Zac turned in the direction of his mom's voice and went to greet her.

"Hey, Mom," Zac said as he gave his mom a hug followed by a kiss on her cheek. "Where's Van? I thought she'd be with you?"

"She's upstairs with Stella. Apparently, there's a crisis and Stella's picking her brain and getting advice."

"Yeah, we still haven't gotten all the details about this crisis, but there's something going on between Stella and Greg and they're trying to get me and Van involved. Where's Dyl-" he stopped midsentance when he heard someone yelling from the other room.

"Damn it! You're going down, ass wipe!" Dylan Efron called out. Zac stuck his head in the living room and saw his brother's attention turned to the game he was playing on the Xbox.

"Dylan! Language!" Starla called into the other room.

"Hey, Dylan. What's up?" Zac asked, only to receive a grunt and a head nod in response. "Nice. I missed you too, Bro. Good to see you."

"Dad, she's not too young! What does Mom say about all this?" the three non distracted Efrons turned their attention in the direction of the sound of Vanessa's voice as she came down the stairs, followed by her father.

"Where is Gina?" Zac asked his mom.

"We just got here about ten minutes before you two did. Greg said something about the grocery store and that she'd be right back. I really don't know," Starla told her son. Zac nodded.

"She says that I should just let it happen," Greg answered his daughter's question.

"Then, Dad, I think you should just let it happen," Vanessa told her father.

"You're on her side!" Greg accused.

"I'm not on anyone's 'side', Dad. How can I be on a 'side' if I still haven't even been told the whole story?" she asked, stopping in front of the television where Dylan's game was being played.

"Hey, Van-" Dylan started.

"Fine, you want the whole story? I'll give it to you," Greg told her, also stopping in front of the TV.

"Mr. Hudgens?" Dylan tried again, a little timidly this time. It was, after all, Greg Hudgens he was trying to talk to. This was the same man who makes his strong, confident, older brother sometimes crumble under pressure. So, of course, that makes Dylan a little shy when talking to him as well.

"Finally! We're getting somewhere!" Vanessa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Um, guys?" Dylan, who had paused his game so nothing was missed, tried again with a little more confidence this time. The other three members of his family stood in the doorway separating the living room from the kitchen, watching the scene play out in front of them with interest, wondering how long before either Vanessa and Greg got into a full out argument, or Dylan would loose his cool because he can't continue his beloved video game.

"Tell me, dear Father, why are you so against Stella going out with this boy?"

"Because he's a boy, Van! Need I say more?"

"Excuse me?" Dylan, raising his voice a little bit yet trying to contain his cool at the same time, spoke up once more while lifting his hand, trying to catch their attention.

"Dad, you're all boys when you start out. Look at you, look at David, look at Zac," she said, gesturing to each of the men as she spoke their name. "You were all boys when you started dating Mom, Starla, and me, but you aren't boys now!"

"Thank you for what I think was a compliment there, Babe," Zac cut in, while David snickered.

"You're welcome. Dad, just because he's a boy, as you say, doesn't tell me anything," Vanessa continues without even breaking her concentration.

"She's my daughter!" Greg tried again to reason with her.

"So am I," Vanessa said, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Thanks for reminding me of that. I had forgotten," he said sarcastically, walking past her and cutting through the group of Efrons who were still in the doorway and watching the scenario. Vanessa rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh before following after Greg.

"Thank you!" Dylan called out after the couple, resuming play on his game.

Zac and David chuckled and Starla rolled her eyes as they all three turned around to continue watching the interaction between Vanessa and Greg.

David leaned in towards Zac and asked him softly "Do you think they're getting anywhere?"

"Knowing Van like I do and if I know Greg as well as I think I do, then no, I don't think either one of them will be budging soon. They're both very stubborn."

"So why can Nessa date and I can't?" The whole group turned their attention to the owner of the new voice which joined in on the conversation, who was standing in the other doorway connecting the kitchen to the formal dining room, with a curious Dylan, who had paused his game to see the action, standing near his own family at the other door.

"Stella, you're 14. She's not. She's 21," Greg told his youngest daughter.

"You remembered! Aw, thanks, Dad!" Vanessa said sarcastically.

"Don't get smart with me, young lady!" Greg told her, pointing a finger in her direction. "I'm still your father."

"Yes, Dad, I know. You won't let me forget. And by the way, that's the first mention of my birthday you've made since Zac and I got here. I was beginning to wonder if that's why we were really here after all."

"What's going on?" the group heard the voice of Gina Hudgens and all turned to see her walk in the room through the garage. Zac and Starla immediately went to help her by taking the grocery bags that she was struggling to hold onto. "Thank you. Hello, Zac," she said, as Zac leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, just as he did his own mom.

"Hey, Gina. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. Although I do feel strangely older today, for some reason. I can't imagine why," she said, with a look in Vanessa's direction. Zac chuckled at her joke as Gina approached Vanessa, giving her a hug. "Hi, sweetie. Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Mom," she responded as she returned her mom's hug. "Please tell Dad he's being unreasonable-" she turned to look at her father "-as always."

"I am not being unreasonable. I just think Stella's too young is all."

"Greg, how old was I when we started dating?" Gina asked him.

"Eighteen."

"How old was Starla when you two started dating, David?"

"Twenty?" David looked at his wife for confirmation, who shook her head. "No, nineteen, right?" Starla nodded.

"And, Zac, how old was Vanessa when you started dating?"

"Sixteen," Zac answered without hesitation, while moving behind his girlfriend and putting his arms around her waist.

"Where are you going with this, Mom? I don't understand," Stella asked curiously.

"Greg, Starla and I were older than Vanessa, yes, that's true. However, I honestly feel that Stella is ready to at least date. I'm not saying that whoever she goes out with will be the one meant for her like Zac was for Vanessa." Vanessa sneaked a glance at her father to see his reaction, only to see him looking at her as well. When he caught her looking at him, he gave a little wink and smiled at the sight of Zac protectively holding on to Vanessa and Vanessa smiled back. _He really does love her. He takes good care of her, too, _he thought to himself.

"It was magical for the two of them. We didn't have to worry about all of the first dates with the hooligans that she could have brought home.

"Dude, you're not a hooligan! Way to go!" Dylan whispered in Zac's ear, holding his hand up for a high five from his older brother.

"Shut up, Punk!" Zac whispered back, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Ow!" Dylan let out as he lowered his hand to rub the offended area on his stomach while moving to the other side of the room to stand next to Stella, as he lifted his arm to rest on her shoulder.

"Boys!" Starla exclaimed, giving both of her sons a stern look.

Vanessa tried to hold her laughter at bay, but failed miserably. "Sorry," she whispered, putting her hand over her mouth when she saw both of her parents looking at her.

"I'm sorry, Gina," Zac started, holding his hands in the air. "Please, continue."

"We both knew it wouldn't be that easy for both of them and that it was bound to happen that eventually we'd have a few boyfriends coming through these doors. Now, are you ready for it to happen now, at fourteen, when you still have even a little bit of control, or when she's sixteen, possibly resents you even more and can drive a car anywhere she wants?" Zac looked at Gina with raised eyebrows.

"Wow," he whispered in amazement. Vanessa let out a soft giggle. "She's good," he told her.

"Mmm-hmm," she agreed softly, rubbing her hand along his arm as she leaned closer into him.

"Anywhere?" they heard Stella ask hopefully.

"Within reason and with permission," Greg answered, pointing a finger in her direction while keeping his gaze fixed on his wife. "Don't push your luck."

"Yes, sir."

The room fell silent as they all watched Greg ponder his wife's little speech. He first looked at David.

"I feel for you, my man. I'd hate to be in your position right now. I'm glad I never had a daughter. All I have to worry about is unwanted babies."

"DAD!" Dylan and Zac both yelled, shocked. Zac moved his hands from around Vanessa's waist, as if afraid that just touching her would get her pregnant, while Starla smacked her husband on the back of his head and Vanessa blushed the deepest crimson she's ever worn, while covering her face with her hands.

"Sorry. I deserve that, don't I?" He asked looking into the angry face of his wife. "We'll discuss it later?" He asked again, as she nodded. "I love you?" Another nod from Starla.

Greg then looked at Vanessa, who raised her eyebrows at him giving him a slight nod and wink. "C'mon, Dad. You can do it. Here I'll say it with you," she started, moving away from Zac and approaching her dad and putting her hands on his cheeks, trying to move his mouth as she said the words. "Stella, I give you my permi- Dad, you're not saying anything," she said as she dropped her hands to her sides.

He then turned his eyes to the hopeful eyes of his younger daughter. In them, he saw not only hope, but also the little girl she once was and, in many ways, still is.

"Stella, I love you very much. You're still so incredibly young, but like your mom said, I guess it was bound to happen eventually."

"What are you saying, Daddy?"

"I'm saying that he will come in doors and meet your mom and I, face to face. We will know where you're going and what you're doing. You will have your phone with you and it will be turned on at all times. I will know what kind of car this boy has and will check it out myself to know what kind of working order it's in. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Stella told him.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Does this mean…?" Stella started.

"This means that your mom and I hope you have fun on your date."

The kitchen broke into chaos. David and Starla moved into the living room to protect themselves. Gina began moving about the kitchen so she could put the groceries away. Dylan covered his ears as Stella gave a loud shriek and flew into her father's open arms.

"Thank you, Daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down in his arms.

Zac was led out of the kitchen and through the door leading into the garage by his girlfriend.

"He has a car?! Van, did you know this boy has a car? He can drive! No way is she going out with a kid who drives and has his own car!"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 1**_

It was early. There was a ringing. Vanessa groaned, realizing that the ringing was her cell phone. _Did I not turn it off last night? I usually do…_ she thought to herself, confused, and then smiled to herself when she realized why she forgot to turn off her cell upon returning home last night. She was distracted. Very distracted. _They'll leave a message; I'll call them back_ she told herself, rolling over to find her distraction from the previous night.

She had been missing her boyfriend lately. With her being in Vancouver and him traveling all over America promoting his latest movie, they hadn't seen much of each other. They did have this past week when he came and surprised her, but since she didn't know he would be there, she hadn't been able to get out of working and he, being the gentleman he always was, gently told her to not worry about it, that he could entertain himself, and that he'd have her all to himself soon enough (he did join her for dinner with their friends and dessert by themselves behind closed doors afterwards one night while he was there, but made sure she followed through on her plans the rest of the week). After hearing this, she was even more adamant about making it back home with him for her birthday.

Her 21st birthday party was last night. Today was the day of her actual birthday, but the party that she'd wanted for several years (and finally got thanks to Zac and their families) was planned for last night. Their families started a family birthday dinner tradition since they started dating and the two families became close, hence the reason for the party being the previous night. She'd had a great time last night, and between all the dancing and the few Cosmos she'd consumed after midnight and the amazing food, she felt the need to properly thank her long time boyfriend. Vanessa had almost literally attacked Zac when they walked through the door, and he was a willing participant. As they made their way upstairs to the bedroom, her purse had been dropped and her cell phone fell out in the process landing on her bedroom floor.

As she was curling back into Zac's arms, laying her head on his bare chest, she felt him tighten his arms around her out of habit pulling her closer to him. She heard him sigh and felt him kiss the top of her head as he tangled their legs together.

"Hhhmmm," she sighed contently. "Can I wake up like this every morning on my birthday?" she mumbled.

"Only if you promise to tell everyone we know that if they call your phone this early in the morning they will be shot," he replied sleepily. "And when did 'Scream' become your ring tone? Not cool, Hudgens."

"I'm sorry, Babe, but in my defense, first of all, it's my birthday, so you're not allowed to be mad at me today. Stella changed my ring tone when she and Mom came to Vancouver and I didn't know it until after they'd left. You know how she and Dylan are always playing tricks like that on us. She told me that she picked that song so that I'll think of you whenever my phone rings. Secondly, it's really not that early. It's almost 9:00. And lastly, if I need to remind you why I forgot to turn off my phone, then something was done wrong!" she told him as she lazily traced patterns on his bare chest before leaning down to place several kisses on his tight pectorals.

"Oh, no ma'am. You did everything right." He let out a grunt when he felt something fall on his stomach, causing Vanessa to fall into a fit of hysterics. He picked his head up slightly off the pillow and looked into the eyes of his girlfriend's dog. "Shadow, what the hell?!" he exclaimed as Vanessa picked up her dog, setting her gently back on the floor.

"Shadow, be good!" she reprimanded, as her precious toy poodle looked at her with her ears falling over her eyes, before running out of the bedroom leaving the two lovers alone.

"How do you feel, by the way? Hung over?" Zac continued.

"Me? Hung over? Please. There are benefits from being one of the youngest among our friends. I've had the advantage of watching all of you make fools of yourselves on your 21st birthdays to know what _not_ to do on mine and I've been out with you enough times to know 1, not to mix my liquor and beer and 2, to drink lots of water throughout the night and take Advil before going to bed. I am, if nothing else, a very fast learner."

"But I seem to recall neither one of us taking anything before bed last night."

"Speak for yourself, Efron. I carried a bottle in my purse and took two before we left the party. What about you? How are you feeling?"

"A slight headache, but I've had worse. Nothing that some coffee won't fix. Speaking of, I know you want to check and see who was calling, so why don't you do that while I start your birthday breakfast."

He placed a loving kiss on her lips and crawled out of bed, grabbing his boxers from the night before and slipping them on under his sweatpants, bending over when he reached Vanessa's phone on his way out the bedroom door and bringing it back to her in bed. He leaned down to give her one more kiss, this one a little longer than a moment earlier, while she placed a hand on his cheek and held him there, and he whispered against her lips "Happy birthday, Baby" only to give her one more kiss before standing back up and making his way out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"Thank you!" she called back, causing him to grin to himself. She tapped the screen of her phone, causing the picture of the two of them at the hockey game they attended in Vancouver for Zac's birthday almost two months ago to appear. She saw the envelope in the corner, signaling a voicemail. She promptly called her mail box, entered her code, and was greeted by the sound of her father's voice on the other end.

"_Baby V, why aren't you up yet? It's almost 9 in the morning. I need you and Zac to come to the house. We've got an emergency and I need your help. I think you two will be the only one's who can solve it. Call me ASAP. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot! Happy Birthday! I'll talk to you soon!"_

Vanessa chuckled, shook her head, and rolled her eyes as she deleted the message from her loving father.

"Poor Dad. You wouldn't even remember your own birthday if Mom weren't around. I bet she was standing right next to you when you called."

As she began to make her way downstairs, the smell of bacon and her boyfriend's French toast made its way to her nostrils. There are many things he tried to learn from his mom when it came to cooking. Not a lot of them stuck with him, but her French toast was one of the few that did and Vanessa was absolutely in love with Starla's French toast. Zac's may not be exactly the same as his mom's, but he sure did try hard!

"French toast, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, bacon, orange juice? What did I do to get all of this?" she questioned, snatching a piece of bacon from the stack as she approached him, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing a kiss on his bare shoulder, while he kept watching the French toast that was in the skillet.

Zac looked at her with a smirk while he brought his left arm around her shoulders. "You were born. Isn't that enough? And by the way, that piece of bacon cuts into your serving size."

She gasped. "But it's my birthday! I should be able to eat all the bacon I want to today."

Zac just smiled at her. "I'm kidding. You can eat all the bacon if you want it. Today's your day and you can do anything you want."

"Anything?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Within reason!" he warned, as her phone began to ring again. "And change your damn ring tone!"

"But I like this one! The singer of this song is sssooo hot and I can't help but think of him whenever I hear my phone ring," she told him. He just glared at her, unamused. "Fine," she scoffed as she disentangled herself from him and made her way over the counter and picked up her phone, climbing onto one of the bar stools.

"Hello?" she answered.

"_I need your help." _

"Stella, what's going on?"

"_Why would you think there's something going on?" _the youngest Hudgens asked.

"Well, Dad leaves me a voice mail saying there's an emergency and he needs my help and now you need my help. What's going on?"

"_It's not an emergency. Dad's just being dramatic as always. But I do need your help keeping him off my back."_

"Why? What did you do?"

"_I didn't do anything."_

"Then why do you need me to help you get Dad off your back?" she asked her younger sister while shooting a look at Zac, who was watching her with curiosity on his face. She shrugged her shoulders in answer to his unspoken question.

"_Because he's driving me CRAZY, Nessa! I can't take it!"_ Stella told her older sister.

Despite the age difference, Stella has always looked up to Vanessa. When Vanessa found herself in the midst of a scandal several years ago, Stella told Vanessa that she admired the way she handled everything and thought that it only made her sister stronger in her eyes. After Stella admitted this to Vanessa, the two became even closer than ever before and Vanessa made a promise to herself that she would not only always be there for her sister, but would always try to talk to and treat her as an adult and make sure she's as informed as Vanessa feels she needs to be about everything the older Hudgens sibling encounters. Vanessa told Zac once that she feels like she owes it to Stella. She's afraid that Stella feels like she's living in her shadow and is always being compared to Vanessa, even if she won't admit to it. Because of this, Vanessa makes it a point to set aside an evening every week (when she's home and not on location somewhere) for what the two now refer to as Sister Date Night. She even felt that it was important for Stella to have her own room at her house, in case she ever needed to "escape" from their parents for a night. At first, Greg and Gina didn't like that too much, but when Vanessa promised that she would make sure Stella got her homework done and made it to school the next day, they finally relented. They too realize how strong the bond is between their two daughters and feel it's important to play their role in making sure that bond stays in tact, whatever that would entail.

"Stellz, I really need more information in order for me to help you."

"_Oh, my gosh! I forgot! I'm so sorry! I'm such a crappy sister!" _Stella exclaimed, causing Vanessa to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Okay, now I feel like I'm talking to Ashley the way you're jumping topics. Chill out, Spaz!"

"_I'm sorry. Happy birthday, Nessa!"_

"Thank you. Now continue on our previous topic, please. You've got me curious. What happened to have Dad all freaked like he is?" she asked, getting up from the bar stool and walking into the other room. "Five minutes. I'll be right back," she whispered to Zac before popping a grape in her mouth on her way out into the living room.

Vanessa talked to her sister for a few more minutes. As she made her way back into the kitchen, she shook her head in disbelief. "You'll never believe this one," she tells Zac while accepting a cup of coffee from him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said placing a kiss on her lips. "What's going on?"

"Okay, so the phone call this morning? That was from Dad. He was talking about how "_Why are you not awake, it's getting late. There's an emergency. I need you and Zac to come to the house. I think you two are the only ones who can help"_. So on an so forth. So when Stella called, she goes into how she needs my help because Dad's apparently driving her crazy. Come to find out, last night at the party, she met this guy-"

"What?!" Zac interrupted.

"Will you stop?" she asked him exasperated at the thought of entering into the same conversation they always have when her sister and boys are brought up. "Listen, I love that you're all protective older brother to Stella, but Zac, you need to let this go. She's growing up and she has boys in her classes at school. She's a very beautiful young lady and boys pay attention."

"But Van, she's too young for a relationship!"

"She's only one year younger than I was when I met you!" she pointed out.

"Exactly!" he shouted, and then stopped when he realized what just happened. "Wait, you set me up for that one. That's not fair!" he pouted.

"Zac," she began taking his hands in hers, "I love you. Okay? And like I said, I love the fact that you're really protective of my sister and you look out for her. But I think that if Mom and Dad are okay with her talking to boys and maybe even going out with someone, then you need to be okay with it, too. Alright?"

"Fine. I'm sorry I got spastic. Now, tell me about the emergency. Stellz met a guy…"

"Yeah, so she met this guy at my party last night. The two talked, danced, whatever, and by the end of the night, they had exchanged phone numbers, email, face book info, all that fun "I'm a teenager and I want to flirt some more" stuff. Apparently, she was up until almost 2 this morning-" she stopped when she saw Zac trying to hold in his laughter. "What?" she asked.

"We were up until almost 2 this morning, too."

"But for different reasons! She better not be- whatever. Get your mind out of the gutter and let me finish my story!"

"Okay, continue," he said.

"So anyway, they were up until almost 2 this morning talking-"

"Phone or internet?" he interrupted again.

Vanessa let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know! Can you please finish my French toast while I finish the story and save your questions until I'm done?" She waited until she saw him turn back to the stove before continuing. "Anyway, the were up really late or early or whatever talking somehow. He had at some point in the conversation asked if he can take her out and she said yes. When Mom woke her up this morning, she waited until Dad was in a good mood before bringing up the whole "I have a date" topic. Apparently, Dad freaked and called me saying that there's and 'emergency'," she said while using her fingers as quotes.

"So there's no emergency? Greg's just freaking out? And he thinks you and I can help? How?" Zac asked as he set a plate in front of her and carrying his own plate to the bar and taking a seat in the barstool next to her.

"I don't know. I'll call in a few minutes after I eat my birthday breakfast. Hey!" she exclaimed suddenly, startling Zac. "Did you hear? It's my birthday!" He rolled his eyes smiling at Vanessa's excitement.

"You're so funny," he told her. "Eat before it gets cold."

Zac took pleasure in watching her enjoy the breakfast that he lovingly made for her. After a few minutes of hearing his girlfriend's sounds and watching her looks of pleasure, he had to say something. "You know, sitting here watching you make those faces and hearing you make those sounds is a real turn on. What do you say we…" he trailed off, nodding his head in the direction of the stairs.

Vanessa smiled at him and shook her head. "Zac, we have to be at my parents for the family stuff in 2 hours."

"That's plenty of time for me." Again, she just looked at him and laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Eat!" she playfully scolded him as she took the last bite. She then stood up, crossed around the bar to the sink, and rinsed her dishes, putting them in the dishwasher. "I'm going to get in the shower. Thank you for my birthday breakfast. It was delicious," she said as she walked back around the bar and into the waiting, open arms of Zac. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Happy birthday," he said as he kissed her back. The two stood there for several minutes enjoying the feel of their lips on each other. "Go," he told her when he pulled away. "Shower. I'll be up in a few after I clean up down here," he told her, swatting her on the bottom as she turned away.

"Hey! It's my birthday! Don't abuse me! You'll pay for that!" she yelled as she ran out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"I'll hold you to that!" he yelled back.

* * *

_AN: I forgot in the first chapter to make my little disclaimer. By the way, it's not mine. None of it. I just wanted yall to know that._

_This is absolutely amazing. My first story that I've ever shared with anyone (not the first I've written; just the first I've shared) has been accepted by lots! There have been quit a few of you who have added me and my story to alert lists! I'm so excited! Thank you all so much for all of the support! My story only gets better… I hope you enjoy the rest as much as you have the beginning._

**_Chapter 2_**

About an hour and forty-five minutes later, Zac was pulling Vanessa's Lexus into her parents' driveway. As they arrived, they noticed his parents Equinox already there.

"Oh, good, everybody's here and they're waiting for me on my birthday!" Vanessa exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. Zac just shook his head in amusement.

"You're such a kid," he told her, laughing.

"I'm allowed to be today."

As they got out of the car and started up the sidewalk, the door flew open and Stella came running out. "Thank God you're here!" she yelled throwing her arms around her sister.

"Hello to you too. Can I breathe?" Vanessa asked.

"Sorry," Stella apologized, loosening her grip from around Vanessa's neck. "Dad will not let up on this!" she told them, grabbing Vanessa's hand and pulling her toward the front door.

"Yeah, I'm great, Stellz. Thanks for asking!" Zac called after the two.

"Sorry, Zac," Stella apologized for the second time in the less than five minutes that they'd been there. "I missed you. How are you?" she asked, dropping her sister's hand and running into the arms of the man who has become a big brother to her within the past four years.

"I'm good. I'm glad to be home for a while. I missed everyone, but especially my favorite Stellz Bellz."

"What do you mean your _favorite_ Stellz Bellz? I better be your only!"

"No one could hold a candle to you!" he reassured her.

"Hey, you two, as much as I love you both and enjoy watching you two together, um, can we go in now?" Vanessa interrupted, as Zac came to stand beside her once more and put his arms around her waist.

"No! I need to fill you in on the latest with-"

"Stella Teodora! Get in the house!" All three jumped when the voice of Greg Hudgens rang out through the front yard.

"She must have done something. Stella never gets the middle name," Zac whispered in Vanessa's ear.

"Hey, Dad!" Vanessa called as she ran up to her father, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, Baby V. Hey, Zac," Greg called out to the other man in his older daughter's life and held his hand out to him.

"Hey, Greg. How are you?" he asked as he took Greg's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"I'm doing well, I suppose. How was-"

"Dad, I can't believe you! You're only being nice right now because you want them on your side!" Stella interrupted her father.

"On his side for what?" Vanessa asked. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on? Dad, you said this morning that there was an emergency?"

"If you had called me back-" he began.

"Dad, that's really not the point here. Please be nice to me. It's my birthday," she told her father, turning on the charm that Greg swears both girls got from their mother. The charm never fails to melt his heart regardless which of his women gave it to him.

"Fine," he sighed. "Let's go inside and I'll fill you in." The group began to file in the house with Zac and Greg bringing up the rear. "Hey, Zac. Can I borrow you for a minute?"

"Yeah, Greg, what's up?" he questioned the man who can intimidate him like no one else in the world.

"Listen, I know you already think of Stella as your sister and I'm really grateful for the way you look out for my girls. I, uh, I need your help when we get in there."

"Yes, sir. What can I do?"

"Stella is trying to talk me into letting her go on her first date. I don't think she's ready. I need her big brother to speak up."

"Um, Greg, I, uh, I- I really truly want to help, but I, um, I- I just don't feel very, um, comfortable speaking up when I, uh, don't know the full story," Zac stuttered, beginning to sweat under the gaze of Greg Hudgens. _Why, after four years, does this man still get to me like this? Will it be like this my whole life?_ he wondered to himself. As Greg continued to stare at Zac, Zac continued to fight off the sweat he felt appearing on his forehead, despite the December temperatures. _This isn't fair. I should already be immune to his stare. It's not supposed to still affect me like this!_ "Uh, Greg, should we go inside? I'm sure everyone's waiting on us."

Greg gave one last gaze at his Baby V's boyfriend. _I've got to hand it to him. The boy sure does at least try to keep his cool when he's around me. I remember that feeling whenever I was around Gina's dad._

He opened the door and signaled for Zac to enter while he followed. When the two men walked into the foyer, Zac immediately spotted his father and made a beeline for him while Greg made his way upstairs. The elder Efron gave his son a manly hug, slapping him on the back.

"Son, how are you?" David asked.

"I'm okay, Dad. Glad to be home and get at least some time off. The movie's done well so far. I just wish it were open in more areas. I've heard of some fans not being too happy that they're not able to see it."

"Your mom and I were able to catch it. I think this one's my favorite."

"Thanks, Dad. That means a lot."

"Greg getting to you again?"

"How can you tell? Is it that obvious? You don't think he can tell, do you? I don't want him to think I'm weak." Zac asked his father, panicked.

"Son, it's called 'the curse of the girlfriend's dad'. It's been going since the beginning of time for all men, regardless of how strong he thinks he is. The girlfriend's dad will always bring the boyfriend/ fiancé/ husband into a pool of sweat and running for cover, no matter how well the two get along. And yes, he knows. That's why he does what he does."

"It's true, Zachary. Just ask your grandpa. Your father still gets in a panic when he even thinks Grandpa will be anywhere near by." Zac turned in the direction of his mom's voice and went to greet her.

"Hey, Mom," Zac said as he gave his mom a hug followed by a kiss on her cheek. "Where's Van? I thought she'd be with you?"

"She's upstairs with Stella. Apparently, there's a crisis and Stella's picking her brain and getting advice."

"Yeah, we still haven't gotten all the details about this crisis, but there's something going on between Stella and Greg and they're trying to get me and Van involved. Where's Dyl-" he stopped midsentance when he heard someone yelling from the other room.

"Damn it! You're going down, ass wipe!" Dylan Efron called out. Zac stuck his head in the living room and saw his brother's attention turned to the game he was playing on the Xbox.

"Dylan! Language!" Starla called into the other room.

"Hey, Dylan. What's up?" Zac asked, only to receive a grunt and a head nod in response. "Nice. I missed you too, Bro. Good to see you."

"Dad, she's not too young! What does Mom say about all this?" the three non distracted Efrons turned their attention in the direction of the sound of Vanessa's voice as she came down the stairs, followed by her father.

"Where is Gina?" Zac asked his mom.

"We just got here about ten minutes before you two did. Greg said something about the grocery store and that she'd be right back. I really don't know," Starla told her son. Zac nodded.

"She says that I should just let it happen," Greg answered his daughter's question.

"Then, Dad, I think you should just let it happen," Vanessa told her father.

"You're on her side!" Greg accused.

"I'm not on anyone's 'side', Dad. How can I be on a 'side' if I still haven't even been told the whole story?" she asked, stopping in front of the television where Dylan's game was being played.

"Hey, Van-" Dylan started.

"Fine, you want the whole story? I'll give it to you," Greg told her, also stopping in front of the TV.

"Mr. Hudgens?" Dylan tried again, a little timidly this time. It was, after all, Greg Hudgens he was trying to talk to. This was the same man who makes his strong, confident, older brother sometimes crumble under pressure. So, of course, that makes Dylan a little shy when talking to him as well.

"Finally! We're getting somewhere!" Vanessa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Um, guys?" Dylan, who had paused his game so nothing was missed, tried again with a little more confidence this time. The other three members of his family stood in the doorway separating the living room from the kitchen, watching the scene play out in front of them with interest, wondering how long before either Vanessa and Greg got into a full out argument, or Dylan would loose his cool because he can't continue his beloved video game.

"Tell me, dear Father, why are you so against Stella going out with this boy?"

"Because he's a boy, Van! Need I say more?"

"Excuse me?" Dylan, raising his voice a little bit yet trying to contain his cool at the same time, spoke up once more while lifting his hand, trying to catch their attention.

"Dad, you're all boys when you start out. Look at you, look at David, look at Zac," she said, gesturing to each of the men as she spoke their name. "You were all boys when you started dating Mom, Starla, and me, but you aren't boys now!"

"Thank you for what I think was a compliment there, Babe," Zac cut in, while David snickered.

"You're welcome. Dad, just because he's a boy, as you say, doesn't tell me anything," Vanessa continues without even breaking her concentration.

"She's my daughter!" Greg tried again to reason with her.

"So am I," Vanessa said, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Thanks for reminding me of that. I had forgotten," he said sarcastically, walking past her and cutting through the group of Efrons who were still in the doorway and watching the scenario. Vanessa rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh before following after Greg.

"Thank you!" Dylan called out after the couple, resuming play on his game.

Zac and David chuckled and Starla rolled her eyes as they all three turned around to continue watching the interaction between Vanessa and Greg.

David leaned in towards Zac and asked him softly "Do you think they're getting anywhere?"

"Knowing Van like I do and if I know Greg as well as I think I do, then no, I don't think either one of them will be budging soon. They're both very stubborn."

"So why can Nessa date and I can't?" The whole group turned their attention to the owner of the new voice which joined in on the conversation, who was standing in the other doorway connecting the kitchen to the formal dining room, with a curious Dylan, who had paused his game to see the action, standing near his own family at the other door.

"Stella, you're 14. She's not. She's 21," Greg told his youngest daughter.

"You remembered! Aw, thanks, Dad!" Vanessa said sarcastically.

"Don't get smart with me, young lady!" Greg told her, pointing a finger in her direction. "I'm still your father."

"Yes, Dad, I know. You won't let me forget. And by the way, that's the first mention of my birthday you've made since Zac and I got here. I was beginning to wonder if that's why we were really here after all."

"What's going on?" the group heard the voice of Gina Hudgens and all turned to see her walk in the room through the garage. Zac and Starla immediately went to help her by taking the grocery bags that she was struggling to hold onto. "Thank you. Hello, Zac," she said, as Zac leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, just as he did his own mom.

"Hey, Gina. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. Although I do feel strangely older today, for some reason. I can't imagine why," she said, with a look in Vanessa's direction. Zac chuckled at her joke as Gina approached Vanessa, giving her a hug. "Hi, sweetie. Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Mom," she responded as she returned her mom's hug. "Please tell Dad he's being unreasonable-" she turned to look at her father "-as always."

"I am not being unreasonable. I just think Stella's too young is all."

"Greg, how old was I when we started dating?" Gina asked him.

"Eighteen."

"How old was Starla when you two started dating, David?"

"Twenty?" David looked at his wife for confirmation, who shook her head. "No, nineteen, right?" Starla nodded.

"And, Zac, how old was Vanessa when you started dating?"

"Sixteen," Zac answered without hesitation, while moving behind his girlfriend and putting his arms around her waist.

"Where are you going with this, Mom? I don't understand," Stella asked curiously.

"Greg, Starla and I were older than Vanessa, yes, that's true. However, I honestly feel that Stella is ready to at least date. I'm not saying that whoever she goes out with will be the one meant for her like Zac was for Vanessa." Vanessa sneaked a glance at her father to see his reaction, only to see him looking at her as well. When he caught her looking at him, he gave a little wink and smiled at the sight of Zac protectively holding on to Vanessa and Vanessa smiled back. _He really does love her. He takes good care of her, too, _he thought to himself.

"It was magical for the two of them. We didn't have to worry about all of the first dates with the hooligans that she could have brought home.

"Dude, you're not a hooligan! Way to go!" Dylan whispered in Zac's ear, holding his hand up for a high five from his older brother.

"Shut up, Punk!" Zac whispered back, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Ow!" Dylan let out as he lowered his hand to rub the offended area on his stomach while moving to the other side of the room to stand next to Stella, as he lifted his arm to rest on her shoulder.

"Boys!" Starla exclaimed, giving both of her sons a stern look.

Vanessa tried to hold her laughter at bay, but failed miserably. "Sorry," she whispered, putting her hand over her mouth when she saw both of her parents looking at her.

"I'm sorry, Gina," Zac started, holding his hands in the air. "Please, continue."

"We both knew it wouldn't be that easy for both of them and that it was bound to happen that eventually we'd have a few boyfriends coming through these doors. Now, are you ready for it to happen now, at fourteen, when you still have even a little bit of control, or when she's sixteen, possibly resents you even more and can drive a car anywhere she wants?" Zac looked at Gina with raised eyebrows.

"Wow," he whispered in amazement. Vanessa let out a soft giggle. "She's good," he told her.

"Mmm-hmm," she agreed softly, rubbing her hand along his arm as she leaned closer into him.

"Anywhere?" they heard Stella ask hopefully.

"Within reason and with permission," Greg answered, pointing a finger in her direction while keeping his gaze fixed on his wife. "Don't push your luck."

"Yes, sir."

The room fell silent as they all watched Greg ponder his wife's little speech. He first looked at David.

"I feel for you, my man. I'd hate to be in your position right now. I'm glad I never had a daughter. All I have to worry about is unwanted babies."

"DAD!" Dylan and Zac both yelled, shocked. Zac moved his hands from around Vanessa's waist, as if afraid that just touching her would get her pregnant, while Starla smacked her husband on the back of his head and Vanessa blushed the deepest crimson she's ever worn, while covering her face with her hands.

"Sorry. I deserve that, don't I?" He asked looking into the angry face of his wife. "We'll discuss it later?" He asked again, as she nodded. "I love you?" Another nod from Starla.

Greg then looked at Vanessa, who raised her eyebrows at him giving him a slight nod and wink. "C'mon, Dad. You can do it. Here I'll say it with you," she started, moving away from Zac and approaching her dad and putting her hands on his cheeks, trying to move his mouth as she said the words. "Stella, I give you my permi- Dad, you're not saying anything," she said as she dropped her hands to her sides.

He then turned his eyes to the hopeful eyes of his younger daughter. In them, he saw not only hope, but also the little girl she once was and, in many ways, still is.

"Stella, I love you very much. You're still so incredibly young, but like your mom said, I guess it was bound to happen eventually."

"What are you saying, Daddy?"

"I'm saying that he will come in doors and meet your mom and I, face to face. We will know where you're going and what you're doing. You will have your phone with you and it will be turned on at all times. I will know what kind of car this boy has and will check it out myself to know what kind of working order it's in. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Stella told him.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Does this mean…?" Stella started.

"This means that your mom and I hope you have fun on your date."

The kitchen broke into chaos. David and Starla moved into the living room to protect themselves. Gina began moving about the kitchen so she could put the groceries away. Dylan covered his ears as Stella gave a loud shriek and flew into her father's open arms.

"Thank you, Daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down in his arms.

Zac was led out of the kitchen and through the door leading into the garage by his girlfriend.

"He has a car?! Van, did you know this boy has a car? He can drive! No way is she going out with a kid who drives and has his own car!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, first of all, thank you all so much for your encouragement! It's been amazing! Secondly, I've had a little bit of trouble getting my chapter uploaded right, and somehow chapter 2 ended up at the end of chapter 1, so if you haven't read it yet, it is up. Just scroll to the end of 1 and you'll see 2. I think I can get it now, though, thanks to the help of a very patient friend who held my hand through this process like a 3 year old and told me what to do. THANK YOU, dear friend! Let's hope I can get it right now. Thirdly, I don't know video games and therefore don't know if 'Sing Star' is a real game or not. If it is, I don't own it. If it's not, well, then it is in my mind! Lastly, only the storyline is mine. The characters, not so much. Maybe Zac will be mine for Christmas, but that's only if everyone picked up on my hints. But at any rate, nope. I hope yall enjoy and Merry Christmas! _

_**Chapter 3**_

"Stella, seriously?" Dylan asked an hour later, taking a break from the game that he and Vanessa had been playing while she went to use the restroom.

"What?" she asked with a grin on her face.

"You've not put the phone down in the past hour. You've got company."

"Dylan, you're not company. You're family. Get over it." Stella told him as her sister came back in the room.

"Get over what, the fact that he's loosing?" Vanessa asked as she sat back down on the floor in front of the couch between Zac's legs.

"Van, I'm playing 'Sing Star' against _you_ of all people and you're kicking my ass. Of course I'm loosing."

"Language, Dude," Zac told his brother.

"Yes, Mom," Dylan sarcastically shot back at Zac while throwing a "Sorry" in Stella's direction. "Van, your sister has been _sexting_ this… whoever, for the past hour! They haven't stopped ever since she told him that your dad agreed to this date."

Vanessa gave her sister a look with raised eyebrows. "And what do you kow about _sexting_?" she asked.

"First of all, we're working out the details of when and where," she told her sister. "And second of all, why do you care that I'm _texting_ him at all? Are you jealous?" Stella said to Dylan, giving him a pointed look.

"She's got you there, man," Zac told his brother, laughing.

"Thank you, Zac," she smiled at him.

"Dyl, leave her alone. I think it's cute! Besides, it's your turn. Close your eyes while Zac picks the song for you," Vanessa told him.

"Stella, why'd you give her the idea to have him pick out the songs?" Dylan complained, only to be met by a giggle. He looked at Stella to see what she was laughing at and saw her once again with her cell phone in her hand. "Never mind."

"Because it's my birthday, that's why! Now hush!"

"Alright dude, open your eyes and get ready to rack up the points! Song's ready!" Zac announced as the introduction to Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" came through the speakers of the TV.

"Man, come on! You've got to be kidding!" he complained.

"Hey, man, you agreed to the rules. Now sing! You don't want to upset Van on her birthday," Zac told him. Dylan picked up the microphone and was about to start his turn when Gina appeared in the room.

"I forgot the wine. Zac, would you mind to-"

"I'll go!" Vanessa jumped up, hitting Dylan in the head with her elbow on the way past. "Sorry!"

"You planned this, didn't you, Gina?" Zac asked.

"Actually, no, I didn't. I honestly did forget the beer and wine," she told him.

"Do you want to ride with me?" Vanessa asked Zac, who stood up and took her hand.

"Vanessa-" her mom started.

"Mom, please," she scoffed. "As of-" she paused to look at Zac's watch on his left wrist "13 hours ago, I can officially buy alcohol! Have you forgotten?"

"How can she? You can't go 15 minutes without reminding everyone who's in earshot that today's your birthday," Dylan pointed out. The group laughed and Vanessa stuck her tongue out at Dylan.

After getting the list of what she wanted from Gina, the couple left the house, leaving their siblings to keep up the battle of picking on each other as they often times do. Both Zac and Vanessa were extremely thankful that their families got along as great as they did, especially their younger siblings. They picked on each other and they fought, just like siblings do, but at the end of the day, Dylan was just as much the protective older brother to Stella as Zac, and Stella looked up to him more than she did Zac, only because he was around more. Not long after their siblings started dating, and especially after Vanessa bought her own house and moved out, Dylan (subconsciously) made it a point to call Stella every so often and check on her and, on those nights, the two would stay on the phone for hours, until one of their parents would tell them to get off. They really did have a great relationship to the delight of their families.

"So, this guy-" Dylan started.

"Craig," she supplied.

"Craig?" he repeated. "That's a gay name," he said trying to hold in his laughter but only ended up in making a sound that sounded like a snort, causing Stella to giggle.

"Shut up!" she cried, hitting him with a pillow.

"Ow! Okay, sorry. Geez. When did this become beat up on Dylan day?" he wondered out loud as he stood up to change the game in the system, throwing the pillow back in Stella's face.

"As you were saying…" she prompted him.

"As I was saying… tell me about him."

"Like what?"

"Well, you two just met last night, right?" he paused, waiting for verification. When he saw her nod, he continued. "Well, where does he live? How old is he? Where does he go to school? How did he end up at your sister's birthday party? Does he have a hot sister?"

"Calabasas. Sixteen. Not sure yet. His dad's a friend of someone- her manager or agent or something like that. And not sure yet."

"You don't know where he goes to school or what his family unit is?" he asked.

"I know he has a sister, I just don't know what she looks like or if she's older, younger, or more importantly for you, single. I mean, we need to save something to talk about this weekend, right?"

"Just keep me in mind, will you?"

"What happened to the air headed bimbo?"

"Alyssa was not an air headed bimbo!" he exclaimed in defense of his most recent girlfriend.

"Everyone else thought so," she told him. "Seriously, though. Whatever happened to her?"

He paused a moment before answering, concentrating on the game, not sure how much he should disclose to his younger counterpart. Finally he paused the game looking at Stella. "She wanted to-" he started, then paused, thinking that another way of wording it in front of her would be a smart move. After a moment of thinking, he finally decided on another wording. "She wanted more than I did."

"You mean she wanted sex?"

"Stella!" he said shocked that such a word would come out of her mouth.

"What? I have an older sister and you have an older brother who, we both know for a fact as of July 4th weekend when they came home and had that party at Nessa's house, have sex. And I'm guessing pretty regularly, too."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But you didn't think I'd talk about it?"

"No."

"Well, I usually don't. Just the thought of that happening at all creeps me out, regardless of who it is!" She sat there for a minute, looking at Dylan out of the corner of her eye. "So, basically, she wanted sex and you didn't?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he finally confirmed for her.

"Have you ever?"

"What, had sex?"

"No, gone scuba diving! Yes, moron! Had sex!" she said, her voice rising in exasperation.

"Ssshhh!" he said putting a hand over her mouth while checking to make sure none of the parents were within earshot. When he saw that they were all out back sitting around the patio table, he finally removed his hand. "Keep your voice down, will you?"

"Sorry." The two sat in silent for a few minutes, causing Dylan to put his attention back on his game. Finally, Stella turned to him. "Well?" she asked.

"Well, what?" he asked.

"Have you ever had sex?"

"No, but I've come close," he admitted. "I'm assuming, seeing as how this is your first date, that I don't need to ask you that question. Wait, let me rephrase that," he told her, pausing he game yet again and pointing a finger in her direction. "I had better not need to ask you that question, seeing as how this is your first date."

"No, you don't. I've not even had my first kiss," she admitted shyly to him, grabbing his finger between hers and moving it out of her face and back to the couch.

"Well, what are you waiting on?" he asked, poking her in her side, causing her to giggle, just as the door open to reveal a pouting Vanessa and an apologetic Zac following close behind, carrying the bags.

"What's wrong with you?" Stella asked her big sister, as she plopped down on the couch and laid her head in Stella's lap, who immediately began playing with Vanessa's curls, an action which is usually soothing for both girls.

"He is!" Vanessa exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Zac as he came back in the living room. "He's what's wrong!"

"What did you do to her?" Dylan asked, looking up from the game controller in his hand.

"He told the cashier it's my 21st birthday," Vanessa complained.

"Don't you want people to know it's your birthday, though? I'm confused," the youngest member of the group asked.

"The whole fun on your 21st birthday is being able to buy alcohol and getting carded," Dylan explained.

"And Zac told her it's my birthday before she could even ask me for my id and I got the chance to show it off!"

"Baby, I said I was sorry! I didn't think! I was just so excited for you and all and I don't know! Maybe my excitement for you got the better of me," Zac tried again, as the back door opened and the four parents came in.

"I thought I heard you two come in," Starla said. "Aw, what's the matter, Sweetie?" she asked as she saw Vanessa with her head in Stella's lap.

"Your son," she told her, pointing an accusing finger in Zac's direction. The parents all looked at Zac for the story.

"I accidentally told the cashier that it was her birthday," he explained.

"Oh, Son," David started. "You messed up. Even I know that!"

"Dad, you've been married for over 20 years. I would hope you do know that by now!" Zac told him. "Now, if one of you two-" he said, looking at David and Greg "-would help me with the graveling process, or you two-" he looked at their mothers this time "- tell me what _not_ to do, we might be okay!"

Greg, Gina, David, and Starla all looked at each other and then looked at Vanessa, who was trying to suppress a smile at this point. David, who had caught on to the fact that Vanessa was picking on his son, was the first to speak up.

"Son, I think you're on your own for this one."

Zac looked at the four parents in disbelief, then crossed the room to kneel on the floor in front Vanessa and Stella and looked into the brown eyes of the love of his life.

"Van, Baby-" he started, reaching out to brush one of her brown curls behind her ear, "I'm sorry that I-" he paused, seeing a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. "Hey, wait a minute! You're not upset!"

Vanessa tried to hide her smile, but failed. "I'm sorry, but you were just too cute! And why are you asking our parents for help groveling? You've dug yourself enough holes and have done a pretty good job at getting out of them in the past. Why start asking for help now?"

"I was desperate," he admitted, holding his hand out to help her up, which she accepted. "Come on, let's go outside." She gladly stood up from the couch and allowed him to lead her out to the back yard.

"I'm going to go start dinner," Gina announced.

"I'll come help," Starla offered. The two ladies went into the kitchen, while the men sat down on the couch with their youngest children. Dylan resumed play on his game, yet again, while Stella resumed her text conversation with Scott. Greg turned to watch Stella as a smile formed on her lips.

"So, Stella," he began. "Tell me about this boy."

Stella's loud groan could be heard all over the house and into the backyard where Zac and Vanessa were sitting on one of the lawn chairs, enjoying their rare alone time, as she stood up from her spot in the living room and stormed up the stairs and into her bedroom, slamming her door on her way.

"What'd I say?" Greg asked the other two Efron men who were left in the living room with him. David simply shrugged his shoulders, while Dylan laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

_Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I had the intention of getting this up on Christmas Eve since my 3 year old was visiting her daddy and his family, but we had unexpected company come in, as well! They left today, so I'm able to sit and relax with my story. I had a little trouble with this one because of the gifts. I'm not good at describing things, so I guess you can google blue topaz to know what it looks like. At any rate, happy reading and I didn't get it for Christmas, so it's still not mine. Oh, well! _

_**Chapter 4**_

Alone. Together. Quiet. Serene. If you were to ask Zac and Vanessa to describe their favorite moments throughout their relationship, it would include all of these words. That's exactly the way the scene in the backyard looked to anyone else in the house who looked out the window at the two of them. They were sitting straddling one of the lawn chairs, facing each other. They had their right fists clasped together playing each other in a thumb war and were talking about nothing and everything, and enjoying every minute of it.

"Alright, start guessing," Zac told her. Whenever there was a holiday or birthday and presents were involved, they played the guessing game with each other, guessing what their presents were. They would then keep tally to see if they were right or not. If they didn't guess any of the presents correctly, then they would have do something decided upon by the other. Sometimes the dares were harmless, sometimes funny, sometimes embarrassing, and sometimes- this one was their favorite, but it was pulled out only for really special occasions- they were sexual. Vanessa had a feeling this would be considered one of those special occasions, so she was making her guesses really far off the mark on purpose, knowing they'd be wrong.

"Um, I don't know. Let's see. I don't have any guesses about what you got me because I never can tell with you. You're hard to figure out, Efron. No hints, no clues, nothing."

"There's a reason for that, especially this time. I will tell you this, though. I put a lot of thought and research into it this time."

"Okay," she said, raising her eyebrows in confusion. "Anyway," she continued, with a slight shake of her head, "I think Mom and Dad got me a new car."

"Um, alright. I don't see why you would think that, but okay," Zac said, letting out a chuckle at her random thought about what Greg and Gina bought her. He knew exactly what both sets of parents got for her, because he went shopping with them and was there when they bought their presents. He bought his present at the same time and had even asked for the opinions of their mothers.

"I think Stella may have gotten me…" she trailed off, trying to think. "Hmmm, I don't know. A trip somewhere for just me and her."

"Now you're reaching. What about Dylan?"

"A new game for the Xbox, which will really be for you."

"And Mom and Dad?"

"Something for the house. I actually think that one may be right, because I was talking to your mom the other day and mentioned how I wanted to get some stuff to do up one of the spare rooms that I haven't done yet."

"You mean your storage room that was supposed to be an office?" he asked her with a smirk. "Yeah, like that room will ever get cleaned out!"

She let go of his hand, putting an end to their game, and smacked him in the arm. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "If I have the proper motivation to clean out that room, it'll get done! Just wait. Even if your parents didn't get me anything for the house, when I get back from Vancouver, cleaning out that room is my top priority. You'll see!" she said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Okay, Babe. I believe you."

"No, you don't. I can hear it in your voice. You don't think I can do it."

"No, I know you can do it. I just don't think you will."

"That sounds like a challenge. What's the wager?"

"No, no challenge," he said looking her straight in the eye. "Just wondering if you'll actually follow through or not, like the plans you had for the garage."

"Just because the garage hasn't been done yet doesn't mean that it won't!" she defended herself. "I've been busy!"

"I know you have, Babe," he told her, mockingly.

"Whatever," she said, as she stood up to walk away from him, but Zac had other plans. He reached out just as she was standing and grabbed her from around the waist and pulled her back down on the chair with him.

"Now wait just a minute. You're leaving me and going back to Vancouver tomorrow. I'm not ready to let you go just yet," he said as she settled herself back in the chair and leaned her back against his chest.

"Well, then, it's a good thing I like you."

"You'd better like me," he told her, moving her hair so it was all falling over her left shoulder. "And you'd better love me when I do this…" He then leaned forward, letting his lips connect on her neck. She sighed upon the contact and leaned her head to the left so as to allow him easier access. As he moved his lips up to just under her jaw and started sucking on her pulse point, she let out a moan.

" Zac…" she sighed, bringing her right hand up to run her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Yes, Baby?" he answered with his lips still attached to her skin. He allowed his left hand to travel from its position on her waist and find its way under her shirt, rubbing the soft skin of her stomach on its way further north. Just as his hand made contact with her bra covered left breast, he immediately felt the familiar hardening of her nipple through the satin material. She let out another moan as his thumb and forefinger began playing with the sensitive bud.

"Oh, God!" she cried out. "Zac!"

"Ssshhh," he told her, lifting his lips off her neck momentarily. "We don't need any company out here with us."

She nodded her head and swallowed hard, as he began to move his lips across the back of her neck this time. She moved her right hand from his hair to down on his knee, and began sliding it up his leg. As she got closer to his center, she could feel his breath hitching in his throat as he continued his attack on her neck. As soon as her hand made contact with his growing penis, the back door opened and the pair jumped apart when they heard the scream of Dylan.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh! My eyes! They're burning! Make it stop!"

"Dude! Shut up! What are you doing out here?" Zac questioned him, frustrated at the interruption and quickly pulling his hand out from under Vanessa's shirt.

"Mom and Gina wanted me to tell you two that everything will be ready in about twenty minutes, so now would be a good time for Vanessa to open-"

"Presents!" she screamed, jumping and leaving her boyfriend alone on the lawn chair. Zac just sat there watching his excited girlfriend as she ran towards the back door of the house she once called home, getting more and more nervous about the gift he had for her. _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ he thought to himself, putting his hand in his pocket to feel the box and make sure it was still there.

When the three of them went back into the house and walked into the living room, they saw the rest of the family already waiting with the presents on the coffee table. As she was sitting down, she saw Zac come in from outside and crossed to the couch where he sat down beside her.

"Vanessa, you go back to Vancouver tomorrow?" David asked her.

"Yeah, I have to be back on set tomorrow at about 5 or so, so I've got an early flight so I can make sure I'm back on time. Zac's taking me to the airport in the morning."

"When do you come back for Christmas?" her mom asked.

"I don't know. Director Zack's been saying that he wants to be able to let us go on the 23rd and be off until the 4th, but that's not definite yet. We probably won't know until next week sometime, if then."

"Mine first!" Stella announced, getting annoyed with the waiting. She stood up and handed her sister an envelope. "It's not much. I've not had too many babysitting jobs lately and I didn't want to borrow money from anyone and have to pay them back, so I just used what I had."

"Stella, it's okay. I understand, you know that," Vanessa told her, trying to make her feel better, as she ripped open the envelope to reveal a $25 gift card to Pier 1 Imports. "Thank you, Stella! Now I can get something for the room I'm going to clean out when I get back," she said, giving Zac a pointed look, who rolled his eyes, before going to give her sister a hug. "I love it, it's perfect," she reassured her.

"My turn."

"Okay, Dyl, hit me. What have you got?" she asked as he handed her his present. She tore off the paper, only to find a shoebox.

"Well, seeing as how I don't wear a size 12, I know that you didn't get me shoes."

When she took the lid off the box to see what was inside, she began to laugh. "Oh, Dylan! That's awesome! Thank you!"

"Yeah, well, I figured you had one of Zac, why not have one of me, too?" he pointed out.

"What did you do?" Starla asked, suspicious of her younger son, knowing the type of gag gifts he liked to give.

"I took a picture of myself and then took it to Wal Mart to print it out using one of those Kodak machines," he explained, nonchalantly.

"No, now. You've got to tell the whole thing!" Vanessa told him, pointing at the picture which was still in the box.

"Okay, fine," he started, slightly embarrassed about the joke he played with Vanessa. It was meant to be a joke just for her, not the whole family. "Well, the machine had a selection for backgrounds and such, so I started playing with it and found a red cap and gown with the _HSM3 _logo, so I added that and then printed it out. Then I got a Sharpie marker and signed it, so now Vanessa has an autographed picture of me in the red East High cap and gown with the _HSM3_ in the bottom corner, just like the promo pictures they took," he told the group, taking the framed picture from Vanessa so he could pass it around.

"Dude, you're weird," Zac told him.

"He's not weird. He's creative," Vanessa said, sticking up for Dylan.

"Thank you, Nessa," Dylan told her.

"You're welcome. Thank you for my picture. Now, who's next?"

"I guess we'll go," David said, while Starla got up to hand Vanessa a rectangular shaped gift. She opened it only to find a black velvet box.

"Oh, my," she said, opening the box and then letting out a gasp. "Guys, it's beautiful! Thank you!" she cried as she stood up to give her boyfriend's parents a hug.

"What is it?" Stella asked.

"A blue topaz bracelet!"

"And blue topaz is…?" asked Dylan.

"My birthstone. I've wanted some blue topaz jewelry forever. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart. We love you," Starla told her.

"I love you guys, too," she told them, giving them each another hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Our turn," Greg said, as Gina handed their oldest daughter an envelope and a box. Vanessa opened the envelope and inside was a check.

"Mom? Dad? What's this?"

"On the days you and Stella were born, I went to the bank and opened a separate account in your names. Every 3 months or so, I went to the bank and made a deposit into the accounts. Your mom and I discussed it after everything took off for you and decided that on the day you each turn 21, you'll get the money that was in the account for you to do with as you choose."

"Wow. Thank you, guys," she said, handing the check to Zac for him to hold while she opened the present.

"Are you okay?" she asked him quietly. "You're awfully quiet."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her a little too quickly, causing her to become slightly suspicious.

This time she got earrings to match the bracelet from Starla and David. "Yay! More blue topaz! Thank you!" she said as she got up to give her parents hugs and kisses, just as she did David and Starla. "I love you guys."

"We love you, too, Baby V. We're very proud of you and who you've become. We're proud of the fact that you haven't let all the Hollywood mess get to you and change who you are. You've accomplished a lot, and we're very excited to see what's next to come for you." Vanessa sniffled and wiped her eyes, not wanting to cry on her birthday.

"Thank you, Daddy. That means a lot to me." She turned her focus on Zac. "Where's your present?"

"Right here," he told her, handing her two boxes. "Open the bigger one first," he instructed. She did as she was told, and found a blue topaz necklace inside. "To match you earrings and bracelet."

"I love it, it's perfect. Thank you," she said, leaning over to give him a soft kiss. She took the necklace out of the box and handed it to him, pulling her hair off her neck so he could help her put it on. "Can I open the other one now?" she asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," he told her, a little quiter than before. He swallowed hard and wiped his hands on his pants, hoping she wouldn't notice his nervousness.

She tore off the paper and took the lid off the smaller box. She froze when she looked inside. There was a square, black velvet box, matching the other jewelry boxes and it was just big enough to fit a ring. She looked at Zac and noticed that he was sweating slightly. "Zac?" she asked hesitantly.

"Before you jump to conclusions, no, it's not a engagement ring."

She nodded and then opened the box only to let out a gasp at the small blue topaz ring that sat inside. "Oh, wow," she breathed out. "Thank you."

"I was afraid you wouldn't like it," he admitted to her.

"Oh, no, I like it," she told him, taking the ring out of the box and began to find a finger it would fit on, only to notice the only one where the ring would fit was probably the most important finger she had- the third finger on her left hand. She gave a silent scoff at the irony and put it on, trying to not let the lump that had formed in her throat take control. To avoid giving in to her emotions, she suddenly stood up and began gathering up all the wrapping paper and moving nervously about the room. "Thank you for my presents, guys. I love them all," she said before moving into the kitchen to throw away the trash.

Gina stood up and walked towards the kitchen, spotting Vanessa standing near the trash can. She walked up behind her oldest daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Vanessa?" she said quietly, letting her know that she was there. Vanessa turned around and Gina could see the tears that had formed in her eyes and it became obvious that she was fighting them off, not wanting to let her emotions take control. Gina gave her a hug and whispered in her ear.

"Don't let your disappointment show, V. He really was worried you wouldn't like it. He even took me and Starla to help pick it out. He's been nervous to give it to you all day. Go easy on him."

Vanessa pulled out of the hug, looked at mom, and gave a small smile. "I'll try, Mom, but it wasn't…" she closed her eyes and shook her head, letting her words trail off. She opened her eyes and noticed Zac standing in the doorway, watching her interaction with Gina. When he saw her look at him, he turned around and walked away. She took a shaky breath and let it out slowly.

"It wasn't what I was expecting," she whispered to her mom.

"I know, Sweetie. It always happens when we least expect it. For that reason, I will say don't be too upset about it not happening now. It will come when it's time."

"I know that, it's just… I don't know. Things have been amazing with us lately and I just thought... You know what, never mind. I better go talk to him," she told her mom as the back door slammed shut behind her boyfriend. "Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome. And remember what I said."

Vanessa gave her mom a nod and took a deep breath before heading out the back door herself to find her boyfriend, ignoring the looks she knew the other family members were giving her.


	5. Chapter 5

_As I was re-reading this one, it seemed like the ending was a little awkward. I don't know, maybe it's just me being paranoid. At any rate, I wish it were mine. I wish Zac was mine. But it's not, and he belongs to Vanessa. Oh, well. It is what it is, right?_

_**Chapter 5**_

When she opened the door and stepped out onto the deck, she saw him immediately. He was sitting on the second step, a beer in his hand, with his back to her. She hesitated at first, then took a deep breath to calm her emotions before stepping out further on the deck, letting her presence known to him. When he heard footsteps behind him, he turned to see who had come out. When he saw it was her, he turned his back to her once again and stared out across the lawn. She came to sit on the step above him, placing her legs on either side of his body, and wrapped her arms around him so they rested across his chest, while placing her head on his right shoulder.

"I love my necklace and ring. They're absolutely beautiful. You did an amazing job picking them out. Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome," he told her curtly, taking a sip of his beer. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, both of them gathering their thoughts.

"We need to talk about what happened in there, Zac," she finally spoke up.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. We can later."

"Zac, I'm going back to Vancouver in the morning. I don't want to leave with us the way we are. We need to talk it out and figure out what happened in there."

"I know what happened in there, Van. I gave my girlfriend a ring and she got upset by it, despite the fact that we talked about this many, many times." His voice rose a bit and she could feel the tears appearing in her eyes again, and again, she tried to fight them back and keep them at bay.

"I didn't get upset by it. I just-"

"Vanessa, you were crying in the kitchen with your mom! Don't tell me otherwise; I saw you!" He moved her arms from around him, stood up, took another swig from his bottle and moved to the other side of the deck, with his back to her, to try and put some distance between the two of them. Vanessa took a deep breath and stood, moving so she was standing behind him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and turned him around, looking him in the eyes the best she could given the height difference.

"You're right, I was a tiny bit upset and hurt by it. I'm sorry if I thought it was something else when I saw the black jewelry box. I don't know what else to say to make you understand that I'm sorry and I know I overreacted!"

"Why did you think it was an engagement ring, Van? I told you that it wasn't!"

"It's not just the fact that I thought that's what it was and turned out I was wrong. It's the fact that that's _not_ what it was." She watched as his eyes turned from hurt to confusion all within seconds.

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't. That's why I'm going to try my very hardest to explain it to you if you'll give me the chance."

"Go on," he said, emptying his beer and placing the bottle on the railing behind him, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Zac, I know you and I have talked about marriage. I know we both decided we weren't ready and are too young. I know we decided that in a couple of years, we would talk about it again. Am I right so far?" she asked, watching as he nodded his head.

"Well, I also know that our time spent together in Vancouver this summer changed something for me. I realized a lot about our relationship. I realized that I can't picture my life without you in it. I realized that I can't wait to see what our children will look like one day. I know I should have talked to you about this before tonight, and I'm sorry that I didn't, but I'm ready, Zac. I'm ready for that moment when you get down on one knee and ask me to be with you forever. I'm ready to have that moment when I appear at the church doors on Daddy's arm and see the look in your eyes and watch the smile on your face when you see me for the first time." She paused as she watched the slight smile appear on his face, most likely from imagining her in the wedding dress and that first moment when he sees her on that day. She smiled in return and continued. "I'm ready to have all the highs and lows that newlyweds encounter and to be able to share them with you and argue over all the mundane things that married couples argue about. Being with you this summer, uninterrupted, every day, able to be with you and kiss you whenever and wherever and not worry about our picture ending up in some magazine somewhere with some headline made me fall in love with you all over again with every fiber of my being. You are everything to me. My life, my every breath. I love you so much that it hurts." she told him. She kept looking at him as he brought one of his hands up to wipe away the tears that she didn't even know had been falling as they made their way down her cheeks.

They stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity before she finally spoke up again. "Zac, I need you to tell me what you're thinking?"

Zac moved from his position leaning against the railing so he was standing directly on front of her, and took his hands and rubbed them down her arms, finally settling on taking both of her hands in his. "Vanessa, I love you. You are the most important thing on this planet to me and I don't plan on ever letting you go," he paused, looking at his feet and taking a deep breath while deciding whether to tell her what he had on his mind at that exact moment. Finally deciding to be completely honest, he looked back into her eyes and went on. "I bet you don't know that this summer in Vancouver, I went in a jewelry store one day while you were working and picked out, paid for, and now have in my possession an engagement ring." She looked at him with wide eyes, not expecting that bit of news. Vanessa was speechless. This new bit of information threw her for a loop. She knew he loved her, but she didn't expect this revelation from him and especially not in this way. He was the one, after all, who had admitted once in an interview that he wasn't ready for marriage and probably wouldn't be until he was 40.

"When exactly did all of this happen?" she asked him, after finding her voice.

"Do you remember the night you called me from the plane on your way back saying that there was trouble and that you were scared?" She thought back to the night when she honestly didn't think she'd make it, and nodded. "After we hung up that first time, I called Dylan because I needed to get my mind off it until I knew that you were okay. We started talking about our favorite memories of you and I knew right then that I couldn't stand the thought of spending any amount of time without you as mine forever and having the rest of the world knowing it as well."

"I think that night was a turning point for both of us," she told him.

"Van, now that you know all of this, I need you to understand one thing," he paused waiting for her to nod. When she did, he continued. "Yes, I have a ring. Yes, I guess it would be safe to say that I'm ready. But I also have a plan on how and when and where I'm going to do this. I need you to trust me and I need you to know that I'm not going to just get down on one knee and ask you just because I can. I want the moment to be right and the right moment will make itself known one day, and when it does, I will do my part in asking, you will do your part and, I hope, say yes, and we will go home that night and make the most passionate love that we've ever had and it will blow both of our minds to the point where we can't see straight." She rolled her eyes at that last part and he chuckled at her expected reaction.

"It's all about sex with you, isn't it, Efron?"

"Only when the sex is with you."

"Are we okay?" she asked, she asked after a moment of silence.

"We're perfect," he said softly as he put his hands on either side of her face, tilted her head up so they were looking in each others eyes, and leaned in to place a kiss on her lips. Just as they were about to connect, the back door opened. They turned their heads to see an embarrassed looking Stella, holding Vanessa's cell phone.

"I'm sorry, guys. I don't want to be interrupting, trust me, but Nessa, your phone was ringing."

"Thanks, Stell. Don't worry about it, you're fine," she told Stella as she took the phone from her and Stella turned to go back inside.

"Who was it?" Zac asked, as Vanessa checked her caller id.

"Evan," Vanessa said with a sigh.

"What does he want?"

"I don't know, but I threatened him about calling me today unless it's important," she said as she dialed the phone number of her manager.

Zac leaned in to gave her the kiss they started while she waited for Evan to answer his phone. She pulled away quickly when he answered.

"Evan…" she warned.

"I know Vanessa, I know. Believe me, it is important. I wouldn't be bothering you today if it weren't. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. What's up?"

"Happy birthday, first of all. I've got your gift in my office. I'll get it to you eventually," he told her.

"Oh, Evan, thank you! You didn't have to get me anything," she told him, smacking Zack on his arm as he smirked and let out a "Yeah, right."

"At any rate," she continued, giving Zac a warning look, "what's going on?"

"Well, Zack called from 'Sucker Punch'…" he told her letting his voice trail off.

"And?" she led him to complete the thought.

"…and you need to be back in Vancouver tonight," he finished quickly.

"What?! Tonight? Why?" she said, not bothering to try and hide her disappointment.

"He's wanting to finish early so you all aren't still in Vancouver so close to Christmas. He says he's gone over the schedule and thinks that if everything is pushed up time wise, you can be done filming and home by the 23rd and not have to come back at all after the New Year."

"So basically, he's wanting to finish a few days early so he's pushing everything up and will squeeze as much work out of us as he can?"

"Yeah. So I've got you booked on a 5:00 flight and you have to be on set at 7:00 in the morning."

"Happy birthday to me, huh?" she asked her manager.

"I'm sorry, Vanessa. I tried," he told her, sounding remorseful.

"I know you did, I can't be upset at you."

"You're having your family thing, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"I know you are. I'll talk to you later, Evan." She hung up the phone and looked at Zac.

"Not good news, I take it?" he asked.

"Well, not good, but not bad, either. Apparently Zack's bumping up the schedule to try and finishing filming all together before Christmas, so we don't have to go back after New Year's. On the one hand, okay, I get it and that's fine, but on the other hand, today? I have to go back today?"

Zac took her in his arms and tried to comfort her. "What time is your flight?"

"Even booked me on a 5:00."

Zac looked at his watch. "Well, it's 1:15 now, so we'd better get going. We'll have just enough time to go by the house and get your stuff as it is."

The two of them walked inside and told their families what was going on. Stella, never one to be excited to see her sister leave, jumped up and threw her arms around Vanessa's neck.

"Thank you for helping me today," she told her.

"You're welcome, and you'd better call me! I want details about your date with this Craig guy!" she told her sister, pointing a finger at her.

"I will," Stella said with a grin on her face.

"Bye, Sweet Girl. We'll see you soon," Starla told her, as she hugged Vanessa tightly, followed by David.

"And you didn't get any lunch! It just came out of the oven," he said, as Vanessa looked at David funny. "Or so I've been told." Everyone in the room laughed.

"She'll be fine, Dad. I'll make sure she gets fed," Zac told his father.

"You better, Son. She looks like she's loosing weight," David pointed out.

"Um, no, that'd be the Seals making me loose weight!" Vanessa told David, causing him to laugh.

"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad," she said, turning to her own parents next.

"Bye, Baby V. Call us when you land," her dad said.

"I will," she told him, knowing that he was still nervous after the plane incident that happened a few months ago. She gave him a hug and whispered in his ear "I promise I'll be okay, Daddy."

He nodded as he let go of his daughter, allowing her to hug his wife next.

"We'll see you soon, honey. Be careful up there by yourself. Zac, are you going with her?"

"Not this time, I've got post-production meetings about _Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud_ within this time frame," Zac told her. The room fell silent for a moment, only to have that silence broken by Dylan

"Hey, don't get eaten by a bear!" he finally spoke up.

Vanessa scrunched her eyebrows together in amused confusion, and let out a chuckle. "Um, okay, I won't." Dylan moved forward to give her a hug and whispered in her ear.

"Don't let the others know, but I'll actually miss you."

"It'll be our little secret," she whispered back. "But don't worry. I'll miss you, too."

"Dude, that's my girlfriend. Get away and no whispering!" Zac told his brother. "Babe, we need to get going. We've got to stop by the house on the way, remember?"

"I know, I'm coming," she told him. "Bye, guys. Thanks again, for all my presents. I love them all and I love you guys, too," she told everyone, blowing kisses at all of them as Zac opened the front door.

"I'll be back later," he told the group. There was a chorus of "Okay", and "Bye, Nessa" and "Call us when you get there" and a bunch of waving before Vanessa and Zac were finally able to close the door. The couple walked to the car, Zac holding Vanessa's door open for her, and they began the trip back to Vanessa's house so she could grab her bags before heading off to LAX airport.


	6. Chapter 6

_Well, yall, this is it. Before I write, I just want to say 2 things. First of all, I left out a very important shout out to the one who's been my biggest supporter through this whole process (you know who you are!) in my AN for the last chapter. I was reading one of her stories at one point and sort of borrowed an idea of her's and included it in Zac and Vanessa's conversation in chapter 5, and completely forgot to give her the credit for it! I'm so sorry, friend! As I mentioned, you've been my biggest supporter and I thank you for all of your encouragement! Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone! This has been an amazing experience and I've enjoyed every minute of it! This final chapter is one that I've had a hard time getting motivated to write, probably because it's the end and I don't want it to end! But alas, all good things must come to an end, right? Without further adieu, here it is! The end of "Birthdays and First Dates"… Hope you enjoy and it's still not mine! Boo!!_

_**Chapter 6**_

The two of them reluctantly left Vanessa's parents' house and made the fifteen minute drive to her own to retrieve the stuff that she would need for the few weeks she had left in Vancouver. The mood in the car was just a little tense. The two of them had not resolved their previous discussion in the manner that they had hoped and given the phone call that Vanessa received from her manager, they wouldn't get the chance to do so for awhile. She hated when they had heavy discussions like the one from earlier, and hated even more when one of them had to leave unexpectedly after having one of those heavy discussions. Even though they were not married, she still believed in the whole "don't go to bed upset; always resolve everything" that she's often witnessed her own parents trying to do during their late nights resolving their own issues. She's always admired her parents and the marriage they have and swore to herself when she was younger that one day, she'd have a marriage like theirs. She sneaked a glance at her boyfriend who was gripping the steering wheel with both hands. She didn't have to see his eyes behind his Ray Ban Aviators to know that he was staring out the windshield at the road in front of him, his eyes narrowed in concentration, a sure fire sign that he had a lot on his mind and didn't want to be bothered. She gave out a soft sigh and turned her head back around to look out the window on her side of the car.

_Evan, why did you have to call when you did? _she silently asked her manager.

Zac snuck a look over at his girlfriend, who had her gaze steady out the passenger side window. He knew without even looking her in her eyes that she was still slightly upset. Even after his explanation in her parents' backyard, she was still quiet. He knew from experience that when she's got something on her mind, she gets quiet and shuts down. He also knew from experience that when she gets like that, it's not easy to bring her back from wherever she's disappeared to.

"Van?" he tried, as he reached out and took her left hand in his right. She instinctively threaded their fingers together and slowly turned to face him.

"Hmm?"

"Don't do this," he pleaded.

"Don't do what?" she asked.

"Don't be like this. Don't shut me out. Talk to me, please."

She turned her head to look back out the window to where her attention previously was and gave a sigh. She subconsciously started rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand. He knew that when she did that, she was close to opening up. He waited patiently while she gathered her thoughts and moved their hands from the center console to rest on her thigh. She took her right hand and placed it on top of their joined hands. She slowly turned to look at his profile. When he felt her gaze on him, he turned to glance at her and gave her a small smile of encouragement.

"Please, Baby. Talk to me," he tried again.

"I'm okay," she told him, slowly, trying to get her thoughts straight as she talked. "I understand what you told me in the backyard at Mom and Dad's. I'm extremely grateful that you were honest with me. I just…" she trailed off, not sure what she wanted to say next.

"You just what?" he prompted.

"I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I need a minute," she told him, moving her left hand from his and placing it so she could rub the back of his head. He slowly nodded his head, knowing that the two of them often have to pause during their serious conversations so the wrong things don't get said and feelings don't get hurt. They treasure their relationship far too much to speak before thinking and risk an unneeded argument. They decided long ago to make sure they had their words straight before speaking to keep that very thing from happening. After a long pause, Vanessa took a deep breath and continued.

"Okay, I think I'm ready," she said giving him another look. After making sure she had Zac's attention again, she continued. "I believe you when you say you're ready to get married. I mean, you admitted to me that you have a ring already. I don't think you'd have one if you weren't ready!" She paused as he gave a slight smirk and grinned in his direction. Her smile faded as she verbally admitted, for the first time to anyone, her next statement. "I'm just concerned, I guess."

"About what?" Zac asked her, confused.

"Like I said, you say you're ready and I believe you. With all my heart, I believe you. I just can't help but keep replaying your interview from last year over and over in my head."

"You mean the one where I said that I wanted to wait until-"

"-until you're 40," she finished for him, moving her hand from the back of his head and pulling her right hand from his, joining them both together and placing them both back in her lap, lowering her head to look at her now far too interesting hands as a slight blush crept across her cheeks. As Zac brought the car to a stop at a red light, he had other thoughts and caught her chin in his right hand and turned her head back in his direction so she was looking at him again.

"You know my thoughts on that interview, Van. We talked about that before it was released. Those things were said just to get the press off my back about us and our future."

"I know, I just…" she paused, taking another deep breath. "I guess it's just me being a girl or something."

"I don't know what you mean by that, but I know enough to stay away from that topic."

She gave a small smile in his direction, moving her hand back to behind his head and playing with his hair. "It means that girls are always dreaming of the perfect proposal, the perfect engagement, the perfect wedding. You can't just tell me that you have a ring and a plan and then not tell me anything else about it! I'm going crazy here!"

Zac then reached behind his head, grabbed her hand, and brought it to his lips, placing a small kiss on the back of her hand. "That's part of the plan, Baby, to drive you crazy! I've got to keep you wondering and sweating it out!"

"It's mean, that's what it is," she told him, pulling her hand away and giving him a slight pout. "You do realize now that every time we're together, I'm going to be wondering 'Is this it? Is it happening tonight?'" He just chuckled. "What, you don't have a response?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"That statement doesn't deserve a response. That's part of what will make the proposal perfect." Zac said, as he sneaked another glance at Vanessa just in time to see her stick her tongue out at him and he just laughed again.

"You're cocky, Efron. You're too cocky for your own good. You know that, right?"

"That's just part of my charm, Baby. That's why you love me," he told her, giving her a look as they approached another red light and came to a stop again.

"Among other things," she said, giving him a seductive look.

"Don't do that to me, Hudgens."

"Don't do what?"

"Don't give me that look. Not when I can't do anything about it." He pulled his hand out of hers and placed it on the steering wheel. With both of his hands in the 10 & 2 position, he was able to fully concentrate on the road in front of him and his driving abilities. When Vanessa noticed the strained look on his face, an idea popped in her head. She placed her left hand gently on the outside of his right leg, just above his knee and started rubbing up and down his thigh.

"But, Babe, you can always do something to get rid of this look," she said with an equally seductive edge to her voice, as she continued rubbing his leg with her hand, getting closer to the inside of his thigh and moving her hand further up. As her hand slowly moved closer to his crotch, she heard his breathing hitch in his throat and felt his whole body stiffen. This was always one of her favorite reactions from him and was the one way that she always knew he was close to ravishing her, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

_I'd like to see you get yourself out of this one, Zachary, _she thought to herself. He sneaked a look at her long enough to see the sexy smirk on her face that was always reserved for only their most private moments.

"Oh, no you don't, Hudgens. Not this time!" he warned her, grabbing her hand from near his crotch before it was too late to turn back. "Not when we're in the car and have witnesses nearby and I have nowhere to pull over!"

"Then I guess you'll just have to punish me later."

"You need to stop right now!" he warned her, pointing a finger in her direction.

"But why?" she asked with that sexy pout that she knew always turned him on.

"Because we're at the airport and I need to find somewhere to park!"

"We're here already?" she asked, not able to hide her disappointment.

"I'm afraid so, Sweetheart," he answered, placing another kiss on her knuckles before letting go of her hand so he could pull the car into the first empty parking space he saw.

The two of them got out of the car, with Zac going around to the trunk to get her suitcase out while she got her carry on from the floor of the back seat. Once they each had a piece of Vanessa's luggage, they began the walk to the door. On the way, they ran into a few members of the paparazzi, who immediately began snapping their pictures.

"Happy birthday, Vanessa!" one of them called out to her.

"Thank you," she responded with a smile and a slight wave of acknowledgement.

"Vanessa, are you going back to Vancouver? Are you going back with her, Zac?" another yelled out to the couple.

The two of them just looked at each other and smiled, giving the paparazzi the perfect picture of the most sought after couple on the "Hottest Couples Under 25" list in Hollywood. It wasn't often that the two gave the press the picture that was so desired, so on the rare opportunity that the press was able to get the perfect shot of them together, it was sure to make front page in some form or fashion.

Zac grabbed her hand again and led her inside the airport and over to the ticket counter. As she was talking to the representative behind the counter, Zac wandered over to a near by bench and sat down, letting his mind wander back to their previous conversation about his planned proposal. He took out his phone and typed a quick text message to their mutual friend and his confidant, the one he had confided his whole plan to just a few short weeks prior, Ashley. Their _High School Musical _co-star smiled to herself when she read his message.

"_I've got her right I want her. She suspects something, but not enough to be suspicious."_

"_That's good. Just the way she needs to be. Have you talked to Bart to finalize everything?" _she typed back, referring to his on screen father, Bart Johnson, who owned a bed and breakfast in Utah. Zac had worked it out with Bart that he rent out the whole place in the near future for the perfect proposal to his beloved.

"_Not yet. She got a call and has to go back to Vancouver today. Let me get her on the plane and I'll call you later. But remember our deal... one word of this to ANYONE and the dog gets it!"_

Ashley gasped as she read his reference to her beloved Maltese-Poodle mix . "_Okay, fine! I promise! Just leave Maui out of this!" _she responded.

"Okay," he heard his girlfriend say. "Who were you texting?"

He looked up and noticed Vanessa standing in front of him with her boarding pass in her hands. She leaned down to pick up her carry on and held her hand out to him, which he took and allowed her to help him stand up.

"Corbin," he lied, referring to another of their _High School Musical_ co-stars. "He wanted to maybe get together later and hang out. I told him about you having to go back and that I'd call him later." _Note to self: call Corbin later and make sure he knows about my fib and will cover my ass if she calls him!_ he told himself, wrapping his arm protectively around Vanessa's shoulders. "Are you ready? Got everything you need?"

Vanessa gave him a look. "I don't believe you. I think you're up to something. I can always tell when you're lying, but I don't have time to worry about that now. Yeah, I'm ready. Lying to me on my birthday..." she said, giving him the cutest mean look she could without laughing at herself. "That's just wrong."

"You don't have to believe me. Just know that I love you and would do absolutely anything for you," he told her as he led her to the security check point.

"I know you would, Zac," she responded, suddenly turning serious. "I love you, too," she told him, giving a light peck on his lips, knowing that the paparazzi was still watching them, and she began walking away from the security check point and over towards the snack bar area. "We made good time and I still have about thirty minutes or so before I have to check in at the gate. I'm not ready to say good bye to you yet," she answered his unanswered question that was written all over his face. "Besides, I haven't eaten yet. Neither one of us has," she reminded him.

She walked up to the counter, ordered for both of them, and carried the food back to the table in the corner that he'd chosen. It seemed to be the most private, and he still wanted some moments of privacy before they left the snack bar and walked back into the path of the paparazzi, who he knew was just waiting on them to emerge. The two sat in a few moments of silence, eating their food, until suddenly, Vanessa let out a giggle. Zac just looked at his girlfriend in pure confusion.

"What's going on, Hudgens?" he dared to ask, as her giggles turned into a full out laugh. "Okay, now you're worrying me. What's so funny?" he demanded.

Vanessa held her finger to signal for him to give her a minute while she controlled her laughter. She reached up to wipe the wetness that had fallen from her eyes as a result of her laughing, and took a deep breath before looking at Zac and answering his question.

"You realize we're probably going to be on _E! News _in the very near future in their 'So true/ So false' segment, right?"

"Why?" he asked with his eyebrows scrunched together.

She just held up her left hand to reveal the blue topaz ring he had given her just a short while ago… sitting on her third ring finger. She raised her eyebrows waiting for realization to sink in in her still confused boyfriend's mind. When she noticed that Zac was not going to figure it out on his own, she finally spoke up.

"'Zac and Vanessa were spotted at LAX today, and she had a ring on a very important finger. That can only mean one thing, right?' At least, that's what I think they might be saying." She watched as his eyes grew wide and she knew he finally understood.

"Well, then put it on another finger!" he said, his voice raising an octave.

"Babe, I tried all ten of them. This is the only finger it will fit on."

Zac let out an exasperated sigh and returned to his sandwich. They sat in silence for another moment, before Zac spoke up.

"I guess it's safe to say that I do know your ring size after all," he joked. Vanessa just rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief, checking his watch to check the time.

"We need to hurry. I've got about ten minutes left and still am not certain which direction the gate is. I always get turned around here."

"I'm done," he said as he stood up and gathered his trash. Vanessa handed him hers, too, and stood up with him.

"It looks like the gate is this way," she told Zac, placing her carry on bag on the surveyor belt of the security check point, signaling to the guard to set it off to the side as it came through so she could tell Zac good bye. Zac pulled her off the side and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"I'm going to miss you," he whispered in her ear.

Vanessa stood on her tip toes to reach his ear the best that she could, and whispered against his neck, which was as high as she could get, "I'm going to miss you, too. So very much," she told him, as she placed a kiss on the spot of his neck where her lips reached. She felt him shiver, an automatic response his body always gave when he felt her warm breath on his skin.

"You'd better just give me a kiss and leave, before I take you into that bathroom and take my time with you so that I can make sure you miss your flight."

"I wouldn't complain if that were to happen," she admitted.

"Neither would I, but Director Zack wouldn't be happy."

"I know," she said with a sigh. "I've got a contract. I need to go and finish. I mean, I've been there this long, I may as well see it through to the end, right? What kind of signal would that send if straight laced Gabriella didn't follow through on a commitment?"

"Yeah, you're almost finished. Just another couple of weeks or so and then you'll be home for good."

"Right back with you."

"Right where you belong," he said. He leaned down and brought his lips close to hers, quickly looking around before connecting. Their lips molded together and began to move in synch, the culmination of years of practice. Just as his tongue slipped out and began to trace along her lips, silently begging for entrance, the two heard the familiar sound of cameras going off. "Damn it," he swore quietly, lowering his head to rest on her shoulder as she laughed quietly.

"It's okay that they got a picture or two of us kissing. We know what really goes on behind closed doors," she told him while running her fingers through his hair.

"You've got to stop teasing me like that, Hudgens. Especially when we're in public."

"Well, I'm just doing what I can to make it all last until I come home."

"The only way it will last is if we were at home right now," he whispered in her ear. "You'd better get to your gate. You don't want to miss your flight," he said out loud for whoever may be eavesdropping.

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you, too," he said, giving her one last kiss. "Go. Your flight's waiting."

Zac stood there watching as Vanessa passed through security, picked up her carry on bag, and gave him one last wave. He lifted his hand to wave back just as she blew him a kiss. He made a show of catching it and placed his hand over his heart, as he puckered his lips to kiss the air and blew it in her direction. The two held up their right fists with their thumb, index finger, and pinkie pointed up, "I love you" in sign language. They each kissed their fists and waved them in the air towards each other as Vanessa disappeared around the corner. He immediately pulled out his phone and quickly punched in a text to Vanessa.

"_I forgot to tell you to call me when you land. I love you!"_

Vanessa felt her hone buzz in her pocket, so she pulled it out and saw the envelope signaling a text. She quickly responded after reading what Zac had sent her.

"_You don't have to tell me to call. I already know that! Talk to you soon. I love you, too! Oh, and keep me updated on the info you get from Stella about her date…"_

Zac waited until he got her response before he texted Corbin.

"_Hey, man. Just in case Van calls you, back me up. You called me and we're hanging out this afternoon. I'll explain later."_

_"Um, okay. Sure. I can't wait to hear this one!"_ was the reply from his afro- haired friend. Zac gave a chuckle before he found Ashley's number in his phone book and hit send.

"Hey, Ash, it's me. Van's on her way to the gate and I can talk now. Let me fill you in on my plan…" he told her, as he turned to start the walk back to the car, already missing Vanessa. It was going to be a long few weeks. At least he had Stella and her dating endeavors to keep him busy. He was, if nothing else, an intimidating older brother and planned on using that particular trait to his advantage while Vanessa was gone. He also had a lot of plans to finalize before she came home…

_Well, my dear readers, this so ends my first foray into the world of FanFiction! Thank you again for the support and all the reviews. I've loved reading everyone of them! This particular chapter is a little longer then I intended, but I had a hard time bringing it to an end. I like to think that I left it with a slight cliffy and open for the possibility of a sequel. Never fear! I already have one in my mind! It may take a little time because I like to have several chapters written before posting anything, so just be patient with me! Remember, I do have a 3 year old and being a Mommy is my top priority. This is just something I do for fun. But never fear, I will return! May God bless you in 2010! Till next time..._


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